A New World
by Nf2752
Summary: Wonders, Artifacts, Keyholes, and who knows what else lie in wait for the whole gang in this new adventure that will take them to the strangest of places...Earth! What hides behind these most ancient of places? Well, you'll just have to read and find out! Oh and this story has an OC too.
1. Confusing Places

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts or its characters.**

Author's Note: Here we go, another Kingdom Hearts story, but it wouldn't be a minor obession without it! Anyway, this story takes place on Earth where Sora finds himself after a strange accident with the Gummi Ship. It takes a little while to get going, but once it does, it'll take you for some twists and turns! I hope you like it! Oh and by all means please review! Thanks!

Part I - Confusing Places

Sora feels consciousness slowly return, and his eyes open. The sky above him is blue, patched with pure white clouds. He wiggles his fingers and finds loose sand squirming from his grasp. Sitting up, he sees that he is on a beach, alone. Is he home? It doesn't look like home, the water is dark and the sand doesn't seem right, but the sunlight is warm and the air humid.

"Where am I?" He looks around some more before standing. He dusts the sand off his clothes, and turns around. Instead of the houses that he knew and loved on the Destiny Islands, behind him were these huge buildings. They aren't as tall as the castle in Hollow Bastion, but these aren't castles. He isn't sure what they were. "Wow…look at this place." This place, wherever it is, is like nothing he's ever seen before. Taking his first steps from the beach, he comes up on something else new to him. The sand stops and there's something like stone, but it's all one thing. There are no smaller stones making a pathway or anything, just a slab. But, it's what's on that slab that's really strange. They look like these Heartless he saw back in the Timeless River, but these things aren't attacking or even moving for that matter, and there aren't just one or two, but dozens. There different shapes, colors, and sizes, but for the most part they all have four wheels, but that's about all he could see that was the same. "What are these?" The cold, smooth metal drags under his fingertips. He knocks his knuckles against the front and only empty sounds result. "Huh…whoa…" Sora looks up from the unmoving thing to a place with dozens of these things, but they're moving, and really fast. Following them with his head leads him to more of the buildings off to the side.

A sound rips open above him, and his head rockets up to see a large object gliding through the air. It's not colorful like the Gummi Ship, but there are words printed over the top.

"FED…EX? What is that thing?" His gaze travels down to a big sign on top of one of the buildings, "Call…Joe? Who's Joe? You know, I bet I'll find some people over that way." Sora starts off to the buildings in hopes of finding someone who can tell him what's going on or where he is.

Within half a minute, he comes through a set of small trees in front of this path that the wheeled things are using. He slows his travel to maneuver around the path, and gets a small break to rush across it. Most of his trip up the hill is spent with his head looking up at the buildings that keep getting taller.

Another five minutes and no one passes him. There've been plenty of those wheeled things, which Sora found out have people inside them, but beyond that not much else. The hill he had been climbing flattens, and the buildings have become even more clustered. He takes a few more streets and still no people, but something else has surprised him too. There haven't been any Heartless, none. Not even a measly Shadow, which is weird. With a flash of light he summoned the Keyblade just to make sure he still could. Usually when they went to a world, the Heartless weren't far behind, but this was definitely not a normal world. This was the first time that Donald and Goofy didn't come out of the warp hole with him. They must have been thrown from the ship. This was the first time he actually thought of the fact that Donald and Goofy weren't there anymore. Who knows what world they ended up on?

He's now between two of the largest buildings he saw, and he takes a moment to take it all in.

"1…2…3…10 wow look at that…" Sora points at each layer of windows as he counts. "That one has fourteen, that's kind of cool. Still no people though," he sighs. Continuing up the street and another, smaller hill, he suddenly finds all kinds of people. They're everywhere, zigzagging through rows of buildings and wheeled machines. "Hi , can I…okay…" He watches a number of people walk passed without so much as a glance. He sighs and clicks his tongue. "I guess I should keep going." He returns to walking, but the only way forward is to move in front of all those machines. He steps out into the path. A loud noise blasts his ears and a swift tug drags him back. He lands on his butt against the stones of the path the people were walking on.

"What were you thinking? Use a crosswalk." Sora looks up into the eyes of the person who, presumably, pulled him backward.

"What's a crosswalk? And why did you do that?" The person, a man with an eyebrow raised, pulls Sora from the ground, back to a standing position.

"You don't know what a crosswalk is?" Sora shakes his head, "Huh…well a crosswalk is one of those white things. Cars usually stop for people when they're in one of them."

"What's a car?"

"Where have you been for the past hundred years? Those are cars, how did you get here without one? We're on a peninsula. Did you take a boat?"

"Uh…well where are we?"

"The Arts District, this is Congress Street, have you never been here before?" He pauses, "Actually never mind, if you haven't heard of a car or a crosswalk, you're definitely not from here. So where are you from?" Sora wondered if he should actually tell this person the truth. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone that he was from what had to be a different world, but there was something different about this place. Maybe it would be alright.

"I'm not from around here." Sora places long pauses between the words.

"Obviously, but where are you from? Most English speaking countries, and the other countries for that matter, know what cars are."

"Ummm…I'm from a different world. Destiny Islands to be exact."

"Okay…um…well…then, I…uh…did you hit your head between there and here?"

"I don't think so, why?"

"Other worlds and crosswalks and cars. Nothing you've said so far makes any sense."

"Okay, from my point of view nothing you've said made sense. Where I come from we don't have buildings like that," Sora points to the building behind them, "Or cars or crosswalks to protect us from cars."

"Point taken, so let's say you are from this Destiny Islands, how did you manage to end up in Portland, Maine on Earth?" More and more people pass by them with every moment.

"I don't know. Donald, Goofy and I were going into a warp hole following a Heartless…"

"I'm going to stop you, Donald? Goofy? Like Duck and Goof? And, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

"Yeah…exactly, you know them? And I'm Sora." He reaches out his hand.

"Logan. And everyone knows them. They're famous here." Logan shakes Sora's hand, "You know maybe we need to talk inside. Come on, we can talk in One City Center."

"Where's that?" Sora puts his hands behind his head.

"The red building over that way. Come on, and we'll use crosswalks this time." Logan laughs, but Sora scowls.


	2. Disney Dreams

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and characters belong to Square Enix, Holdings, Co. Ltd. and Disney Movies and Characters belong to the Walt Disney Co. **

Author's Note: So did you like the last chapter? I hope you did! Here's the second and this is where the real story begins! I hope you like this one too! And if you find the time...please review! Thanks!

Part II: Disney Dreams

The instant I saw him, I knew that there was something wrong about him. Okay, maybe not wrong, but off. His clothes and hair marked him out from the meager lunchtime crowd that was growing along Monument Square's Farmer's Market. I felt a little bad for him when I saw all of those people just walking away from him. I was actually going to go see if he needed some help anyway before he decided to walk into traffic. I guess that everything happens for a reason.

Leading him back to my office isn't very difficult, but there are some puzzled looks coming toward us. Once we step inside the building, the oppressive humidity of July washes away, and we start up to my office.

"Whoa…" Sora's eyes examined the lobby, "You work here?"

"Yeah up on the seventh floor. Don't you have office buildings in your…world?" I turn around to make sure he's still following.

"Yeah, I guess, but they're nothing like these. My Mom works in one, but it looks more like a house than…this huge thing." He stops and leans over the rail to the food court.

"Sorry, it's gonna take me some time to get used to this whole other world stuff." I rub the back of my head.

"That's okay, I'm still getting used to this place." He doesn't look up.

"Well, come on, we have to get going." I tap him on the shoulder, and he looks over at me, nods and stands.

"So where are the stairs? All I see is the set that go down there."

"There is a set over that way, but that'll take you a while. Here we'll take the elevator over there." I point to the row of three elevators.

"What's an elevator?"

"What…uh…never mind, follow me. I'll show you." I motion to them.

"Okay…" I lead him into one of the cars and push the seven button. The machine lurches to life, and Sora drops to his knees with his hands over his head. "What was that?!" He begins to stand again.

"That was just the car starting to move. It's fine."

"I thought you said we were in an ele…vator, now we're in a car?"

"They're called elevator cars." Sora's eyes widen in understanding before he relaxes into the half minute journey that ends with the doors opening to my office's floor.

"That was fast."

"That's why we still use them." I probably shouldn't have put that much sarcasm into that. He had no way of actually knowing. "Okay, 'my' office is around the corner." I point down the hall to our left. I pass Sora on the way to my office. Once he's in the room, I close the door. He goes right for the window.

"Wow…look at this place. It looks so different from up here." He presses his face closer to the window.

"Yeah, it's something else alright. Anyway, let's get down to business." Sora turns from the window and sits in one of the chairs opposite my desk.

"Okay, first where are we?" He slouches in the chair.

"Like I said earlier, we're in the city of Portland. It's a small city in the state of Maine, in the US on the planet Earth." Sora nods with every addition. "Any of that sound familiar?"

"Not a bit, but I've been to a bunch of worlds and Riku said that there are a bunch more."

"I take Riku's a friend of yours."

"Yeah, he's my best friend from back home on the islands."

"Huh…okay so maybe you should tell me who you are."

"Okay, well, I'm Sora and I come from a place called Destiny Islands. I live there with my best friends Riku and Kairi. Our other friends, Roxas, Namine, Ven, Terra, Aqua, and Vanitas all live there too. Donald, Goofy and I were chasing after a Heartless in our ship when I somehow ended up here." He ends with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Huh, okay, first question, what's a Heartless?"

"They're these things that come from the Darkness in people's hearts. They take people's hearts away and they can even take the heart of the world if they can find the Keyhole."

"I take it these things are evil then."

"Yeah, they took the hearts of a lot of people and worlds a few years ago, but Donald, Goofy, and I defeated Ansem and restored them all."

"I'll just let Ansem go."

"Well, he's or was this guy who was kind of like the leader of all the Heartless. He was after this thing called Kingdom Hearts, which is where all the hearts that the Keyblade releases from the Heartless go."

"Keyblade?"

"Yeah see." A flash of light appears in Sora's hand, which leaves this sword –like thing after it fades away. "This is a Keyblade. It's a very special and powerful weapon."

"Huh…that's all I can say…huh…"

"So how do you know Donald and Goofy?"

"They're very famous cartoon characters. They've been around for probably sixty plus years. Here, look." I swivel my chair to the computer and go to find some old videos of Donald and Goofy. "See." I point to the screen and let Sora watch.

"It's them…but I don't…understand."

"Perhaps I can be of some help." A disembodied voice enters the room, followed by a puff of blue smoke.

"Merlin!" Sora leaps from his chair, "How did find me?"

"Well, let's just say a wizard has his ways."

"Wait…Merlin, like _The Sword in the Stone_ Merlin?" Now, I'm the one that's really confused.

"Actually, yes." Merlin pushes the blue hat back on his head.

"I thought you were just a cartoon character, like Donald and Goofy."

"In your world yes, but in his world, and I suppose your world now too, no." As he finishes, I slouch back in my chair. "Let me explain. Many years ago, your world was in great danger because it is a world that is neither in the Realm of Light nor the Realm of Darkness. It is a very special world. Now, when your world came under attack, Donald, Goofy, myself, and all the other 'Disney' characters you know helped to protect it." Merlin sort of bounces as he talks.

"So why are you now all cartoons?" I try to work my way through everything that he just told me.

"Well, we needed a way to explain people's memories of us. We could not allow people to know what the true events were because it would again put this world in danger. This way people had memories of us, but they could not remember what happened."

"Merlin, why is this world so special? And why aren't there any Heartless here?" Sora goes back to his seat.

"Ah…this world is the key to the Realm of Life. All life begins here in one way or another, even yours and mine, Sora. It's difficult to explain, in fact, I'm not even sure I can explain it or even know it for that matter. As for the Heartless, that is because there were no Corridors of Darkness leading to this world. That is until the Keyholes became unlocked."

"Keyholes, like more than one?" I'm not going to say a word at this point. I'm more confused than Sora was when I first found him.

"Seven to be precise, they were laid down by the most ancient of civilizations thousands of years ago, but for some reason they have recently become unlocked. Yen Sid did not know how this happened either, but we know that it did, and this world is now in great danger."

"From the Heartless?" Sora tilts his head.

"And the Nobodies, both seek the way into the Realm of Life, but we must stop them."

"We have to seal the Keyholes." Sora sounds excited.

"Wait, have you done this sort of thing before?" I try to reenter the conversation.

"Yep."

"And Logan, your meeting was not an accident either." Merlin turns to me, and I suddenly want this day to end.

"Wonderful…"

"Yes, you actually belong on his world, but for an unknown reason you were brought here to live your life."

"That can't be true. There's no way." I really hope there isn't anyway.

"Well, it is true. Sora was also brought here for the same reason, to protect your world."

"Okay, say everything you've just said is true…where would these seven 'Keyholes' be. I'm sure someone by now has found them."

"Have you ever heard of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World?" Merlin cocks his eyebrows in my direction.

"Of course, but…ah…I get it. I guess I don't have much of a choice in this matter do I?"

"You most certainly do. You can help Sora save this world and the Realm of Life or you can sit back here and watch it all crumble around you. Your choice." Merlin's voice becomes dismissive and he turns as though he is going to leave. I can't think of what to say, so I just sigh.

"Come on, Logan, we have to help this world." Sora jumps again from his chair. I put my head on the desk, and just leave it there.


	3. An Adventure Awaits

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts or Google (What I wouldn't give) or anything else that exists in the real world mentioned in this story. **

Author's Note: Everything's starting to come together now! What's going to happen? How? You'll just have to read to find out! I hope you all enjoy it!

Part III: An Adventure Awaits

"So where do we start?" Merlin had left about five minutes ago, but I've take them to try and collect what I can from my scrambled thoughts.

"Well, where are these seven wonders Merlin talked about?" Sora for some reason looks excited about this whole thing.

"I don't think many of them really exist anymore. Actually, I'm not even sure what they all are."

"I thought you said you knew about them!"

"Careful not to yell. Everyone knows of them, but I couldn't name all seven, but I know where we can find out. Come over here." I motion to the computer behind me. Sora stands and walks toward me.

"What's this?" Sora leans on the back of my chair.

"It's a computer."

"We have something like those back home, but they're a lot bigger."

"Really? These are our big computers. Most are much smaller. Do you have the internet too?"

"I don't think so. What is it?"

"Simply put it's a collection of a lot of information. Here, I'll find a list of the Wonders."

"What's that? Goo…gle?" He tries to puzzle out what must have been a strange word.

"Yeah, Google, it lets you search things on the internet. Here we go the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World …" I scroll down the page, "Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria."

"And here's a map." Sora points at the screen.

"They're all together, that'll make it easier. Where do we start?"

"Which one makes the most sense?" Sora straightens.

"All of these places are big tourist traps, so there'll be big crowds no matter where we go."

"Which means it won't be easy to look for the Keyholes."

"Right." It's disconcerting that I'm already not surprised by him mentioning Keyholes, "well, we'll have to fly no matter what, so…"

"You have a Gummi Ship?!" Sora about jumps.

"Uh…since I don't know what that is, I'm going to say no. We're going to take a plane from the Jetport."

"The Jetport?" Sora's hair tips as he tilts his head.

"It's where all the planes from around here take off; either that or we could leave from Boston."

"I'm totally lost. Is there any other way to get there?"

"There's an ocean between here and there. What do you wanna do, swim?" I hope he wasn't planning on that.

"Can't we walk?" Did he really just say that? "Every other world I've been to, we could walk everywhere we needed to go."

"I see two problems with that, one, it's six thousand-ish miles from here, and two, most of that distance is over water, so no."

"Wow, this is a big world isn't it?" Sora turns back to the window.

"I…guess…so…okay, our first stop will be Cairo, Eqypt and the Great Pyramid. Our flight leaves early tomorrow morning. You're going to need some new clothes if you're going to blend in." I gesture to Sora's eclectic outfit.

"But these are really special. I don't even have another set." I don't even want to think about how he stays clean.

"Then how do you…"

"Oh…I wash them every day." Well, I guess that's not too bad.

"Still, you're not going to blend in. Can you deal without them at least until we're inside one of the Wonders?"

"If I have to." Sora grimaces.

"You have to. Let's go."

I take Sora down closer to the Old Port where most of the stores and other stuff are. I make him go through a bunch of the different clothing stores, trying to find something less noticeable, especially since the half mile walk got him upwards of thirty confused looks. Every store we go to makes for some complaint or another about how Kairi or Selphie, who, so I've learned, are two girls from his…er…iour/i island, always brought him on their shopping excursions, or how Kairi always complained about his wearing the same outfit over and over again. Granted most of it was under his breath, but I don't think subtlety has ever been his strong suit.

After another two hours of shopping, Sora finally has enough stuff to handle what's looking like a long journey. Most of it's the normal assortment of shirts and shorts, an occasional jacket to give the comforts of "home".

"There is that better?" Sora stepped from the dressing room stall for the last time in a white polo and blue plaid shorts. On his feet were blue boat shoes.

"Much, and boat shoes make it all the more Main-ah." I never realized how difficult it was to fake the "Maine Accent."

"Maina?" Sora tilts his head.

"Yeah, it's how you would say Mainer in the 'Maine' accent, which is people replace r's with a's and…well it doesn't really matter, but it works. That's all that really matters."

"So are we done here?" Sora looks at himself in the mirror.

"Yeah, I think we're good." I look down at my phone, "Okay, it's 5:40, so we can go get dinner if you want before we head back to my place."

"Finally! I'm starving, I haven't eaten in forever!" Sora places a hand across his stomach pretending to have hunger pangs.

"Alright, there are three hundred some odd restaurants in the city. Pick one." I sweep my hand toward the hill upon which the city sits.

"Three hundred?! We have maybe thirty, and that's counting the food court at the mall."

"Well, pick one, we can pretty much go in any direction, what kind of… oh wait you probably don't know any of things we eat here…do you?"

"Nope, but I'm up for anything." Sora's now familiar smile returned to his face.

"How's about seafood? You should get to taste a little of what we're known for before we leave."

"Awesome, we have seafood back home, but I wonder if it's like what you have here."

"Lobster? It's pretty much all people know Maine for."

"Never heard of 'em. What are they like?" Sora tilts his head in bewilderment.

"They're kinda like big red bugs, but they taste pretty good especially dipped in butter. Come on, this way."

Our meal didn't last too long, maybe an hour and a half. We talked mostly about how we're going to Egypt at 4:00 in the morning. After that we head back to my car, and Sora takes a second before coming too close.

"It's not going to bite. Look, you need to turn it on first, plus you'll be on the inside this time. Don't worry." I unlock the doors and step in. Sora stares at the door for a while, looking it over. "There's a little handle on the left of the door. See it?" He nods. "Pull it up and pull the door toward you."

"Ah…" He opens the door and sits down.

"Put on your seatbelt…" I motion to it, "the thing on your right, pull it across your body and put the silver part into the red thing. See?" He nods and we finally get to head off. It's not far to Falmouth where we live, just over the bridge. Thankfully, we're leaving after everyone else, so we didn't see much in way of traffic, plus it's a Thursday, which makes it even easier.

Once in Foreside, the overpriced homes come into view. The pathway lights guiding us along the darkness shrouded street. I pull the car into our driveway, and I can hear Sora's mouth drop open.

"You live here?" I can see him move forward in the dim light.

"Yeah, it's my parents' house." I shut the car off and pull out the keys.

"You still live with your parents?" Sora turns back to me.

"How old do you think I am?" Sora shrugs. "I'm seventeen."

"Really? How did you make enough money to pay for all that stuff then?" Sora asks as we both stand from the car.

"Let's put the pieces together, my parents, this house…so my parents…" I'm hoping he'll fill in the blank on his own.

"Are rich?" Sora almost sounded upset, probably because I made it even more obvious than it was originally.

"Yeah." I give a smug nod. "Let's go." I start inside.

"What about your parents, won't they ask questions?" Sora doesn't follow right after me.

"They would, if they weren't both off for their twentieth anniversary in the Caribbean. The lights are just on to make it seem like someone is home that way we don't get burglars or anything like that. We've got the house to ourselves, my younger brother's staying at my grandparents even." I open the front door and we step into the foyer with its wrap around staircase and second level balcony.

"Wow…it's huge." Sora stops in the door way and stares blankly around the room.

"My parents' weren't ones for being frugal." I hang the keys on the rack by the door.

"I'd say not. This place is…wow. That's all I can say…"

"You must be tired. Here I'll take those bags and get you up to your room." I grab a few of Sora's bags that he laid on the ground while he stared. I lead the way up the stairs and over to the empty room up here. It's conveniently located next to mine. It's simple, a bed, a closet, a dresser, the usual stuff.

"Is everything in this house huge?" Again, Sora's eyes about fall out of his head when he gets into his room, " My room on the island is about this big and I have to share it with Roxas!"

"Alright, well, I don't know how long it takes you to do your hair, but we need to be out of here by 3:45, so that's," I look at my phone, "almost eight hours from now. You'll have to decide when you need to wake up. There's an alarm beside the bed." Sora picks up the rectangular object and turns it over in his hands.

"Can you help me? Tech has never really been my thing." He holds out the alarm.

"Sure, what time?" I start pressing the buttons.

"Well, I take a twenty minute shower, two to get dressed, and the hair…"

"I'll set it for three. Now get to sleep, it'll be a long flight." I leave the room and click out the light.

Sleep was a pointless wish that night. The stars performed their dance with me as their unwilling audience, but that performance went unfinished as the alarm sounded. I move mindlessly to the bathroom connected to my bedroom. Lying in bed I had hoped maybe the dream would end, and I'd find myself back where everything made sense, but I had no luck with that. The shower's warmth washes back the sleepiness that burdens my eyes, at least for the moment. After the shower I pack my suitcase with my clothes and a special addition from my father. I put my laptop, camera, and a couple books; it'll be a long flight after all.

With all that accomplished I head to Sora's room to make sure he's at least started. He's got twenty minutes left, so he can rush if he needs too. Rounding the corner, I can see him standing in front of the mirror fully dressed with wet hair smattered down with only the front starting to resemble the look he had yesterday. He's right on schedule. I scoff quietly, and turn to leave.

"Didn't trust me to be ready?" Sora's voice follows me beyond the door. Stepping back to the door, I prepare to retort, but nothing seems to come.

"I guess not." I smile before leaving, and waiting the leftover fifteen minutes before we need to leave. Sora makes it out with five minutes to spare, suitcase in hand.

"I'm ready to go." He smiles wide with eyes quite too cheery for 3:45 in the morning.

"Great, come on. Security's going to hopefully be fast this early." I grab the keys and walk forward to the car. Sora this time passes me, gets the suitcases in the car, and climbs in the car long before I get there. "You sure are peppy this morning."

"Why not? It's the start of a new adventure, and a new world to explore."

"That's a good way to look at it. Well, to a new adventure!" I turn the car on, and actually feel excited about this for the first time. Who knows, it might all work out, in some crazy way.


	4. Nascent Memories

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the trademarks that belong to Apple. **

Author's Note: Now we get into the real plot. There are some very important parts for the rest of the story, so make sure you read closely! I hope you like it! Please review! Oh and thanks kingdomheartsevanescencefood for all the reviews, they mean a lot to me!

Part IV: Nascent Memories

Getting here at four in the morning did nothing to alleviate the annoyance know as airport security. Oh well, six comes around and we're on the plane. I'll never understand why they added a non-stop flight from Portland to Cairo, but it sure was convenient in this situation. It'll also be a nice chance to relax, and take everything in. I still haven't come to terms with this whole thing, so maybe eleven hours will be what I need. Ew…eleven hours stuck on a plane, at least first class seats will make it more enjoyable, if only just.

"How long do we have to wait here?" Sora smashes his head back against the headrest.

"It depends, sometimes hours." I snicker under my breath; I don't know why it was funny. I think I didn't sleep long enough. Sora sighs and grumbles.

"Flight attendants please prepare the cabin for take-off." The voice of the pilot rips across the close to silent cabin.

"There, maybe five minutes more."

"Finally!" Sora rolls his eyes, "It's about time."

"It's an eleven hour flight."

"Ugh…" He presses his head deeper into the headrest. Chuckling, I pull out my carry-on.

"Here, this might help." I grab my iPod from my bag.

"What is it?" He turns it around in his hands.

"It's called an iPod. Here…" I push the circular button at the base, and the screen awakens, "you can listen to music, play games, watch movies or go on the internet. It has a touch screen so if you see it just tap it, and it should work." I hand it back to him, and he stares at it. "One more thing, you'll have to turn that off it a sec until we take off."

"Why?" Sora's eyes are fixated on it and its multitude of apps.

"It's an airplane thing, here…" I press the lock button, "it's only for fifteen minutes, you'll be fine." He lets out a disappointed sigh and sets it on his lap.

Taxiing starts within a minute. This is my favorite part about flying. At take-off and landing you get this feel in your chest as the plane speeds up and then as it leaves the runway and the world drops away. It's a great feeling. I lean forward to look out the window by Sora to get a view of it.

With that we're in the air, and I sit back to wait it out.

"What…was…that…?" Sora's eyelids are fluttering.

"Are you going to be okay? It was just the plane leaving the ground…don't you have the same thing in your…gummi ship?" I'm a little worried; he looks like he's going to throw up.

"Yeah…yeah…I'm okay, but no, it usually doesn't feel like that."

"We just went from maybe twenty miles an hour to about three hundred. You sure you'll be okay?" I turn to look at him. His hand his over his heart and his eyes are closed.

"Yeah…"he takes a deep breath, "I'll be okay. I will say though, that was pretty cool!" Yeah, he's fine, his smile's back.

About three hours pass before sleep finally agrees to visit. Sora's still playing with the iPod as my eyes close.

Still, they open again, but not on the plane. My feet sink into the sand and the sounds of water are not far away. In front of me are two boys racing along the sand, one of them looks like Sora, albeit younger, which means the silver haired one must be his friend Riku. This has to be a dream, but what I am seeing? Is this our island? My eyes close again.

The opening brings me to what I think is the same island, but darkness blankets the island. There's Sora…and…these black creatures with yellow eyes like little suns that pop up everywhere.

Another blink, another world. It looks like a ship, an old one…Sora's here again and so is Riku. A little girl sits beside Riku with the blankest of stares. Riku calls her Kairi…the one Sora talked about.

Dreams pass and now I'm standing below a bizarre castle with turrets pointing in every direction. I'm surrounded by what look like waterfalls, but instead of falling, the water's rising. There's Sora, Donald, Goofy and Riku, they're standing on a platform at the top of the falls. I can't tell why, but Sora falls to his knees as Donald and Goofy follow Riku away, leaving Sora alone.

The next time, there is nothing but blackness. A voice cuts through the emptiness…

"You're wrong. I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts is light!" It sounded like Sora. I wonder what Kingdom Hearts is. He had never mentioned it before. Kingdom Hearts?

Without giving me a chance to think, the dream shifts again, but I can't find Sora. So far he was the only one who connected all these dreams, but this one is of a blonde haired boy about Sora's height and build.

"Come on Roxas!" The boy turns before running in direction of the voice. Roxas…that's the one that Sora shares a room with. I assumed that they were friends, but I wonder if they have a deeper connection.

A new dream starts…this time there's a tower that rises above a town. A series of tracks travel out to my left, opposite the tower. Sora comes walking up the path in front of me. He looks more like he does now, but his clothes are like his from the other dreams. Donald and Goofy are with him. As soon as they are in front of the tower, lanky white creatures burst from the air. The Keyblade appears in his hand…

"Logan…" The dream shatters. My eyes open again, and I'm on the plane, "Logan, they say we're about to land." I rub the last bits of sleep from my eyes and put the seat up.

"We're here already?"

"What do you mean 'already', I'm bored out of my mind!" Sora flops back to his seat.

"Sorry." He shrugs.

"Oh well, at we're here."

Cairo welcomes our plane late in their night, so Sora and I find a hotel for the night, and decide to wait for morning to come before we head for the Great Pyramid. The air is warm even in our air conditioned room, and despite the fact that I "slept" through the flight, I fall right to sleep again, the last sound I hear is Sora's snoring.

Before the sun rises, I'm awake again. Unlike on the plane, my sleep was uninterrupted by strange dreams. A yawn escapes from Sora's mouth as he stretches while still under the blankets.

"Morning Logan." He manages through another yawn.

"Morning. Did you sleep well?" I hold my cup of tea tighter, and turn from the window. He scratches his head before slumping against the headboard.

"Yeah. How 'bout you?" He sits up. I nod.

"Do you want some coffee or something?" I motion to the coffee maker on the table.

"Eh…do they have tea? I hate coffee."

"I guess we have something else in common."

"Oh come on, we're not all that different." Sora stands from his bed and starts heating some water. They must have coffee makers where he's from because he seems to know exactly what he's doing. I just wish he would get dressed. Looking at him in his boxers isn't my cup of tea, no pun intended. After the next two minutes of tea prep, Sora goes back to his bed and pulls the covers back over.

"Maybe not…hey Sora? Can I ask you some questions?" I sit down on the table beside the window.

"Sure. What's up?" He takes a long sip from his tea.

"Are you and Roxas…more than friends?" I want to start with the simpler of my questions.

"Yeah, he's my Nobody, why?"

"Well, first let me ask you this…have you ever heard about something called Kingdom Hearts?"

"Of course! On our very first adventure, Ansem tried to use it to achieve the ultimate darkness or something. It's where all the hearts that are released from Heartless go. Why?"

"And were you ever at a place with rising waterfalls." I have yet to look up at him.

"Yeah, Hollow Bast…er…Radiant Garden. Logan, why are you asking me all these questions?" I guess I have to tell him.

"On the plane, I had these dreams. They were all of you doing these things that I just said. Each one was of a different moment. But, I can't understand why I had them. Clearly, they weren't random dreams that my mind put together. They were things that happened, but they're not things that I would have or should have known, or even could have known. We've been on opposite sides of some barrier that splits these realms for all of our lives…"

"Maybe we're connected somehow?" He sucks down more of his tea.

"Like how?" This is the first time that I look him in the eye since I started asking him questions.

"I don't know, exactly…but Naminé said that I made connection…chains with people I met, and that it happens with everyone. Maybe you and I shared something like that." He smiles.

"How could we though? You heard Merlin; I was taken away not long after you were born. There's no way."

"I don't know, come on. Stop worrying about it. We'll figure it once we saved the world!" Sora stands and puts his hands on my shoulders. I look into his eyes, mostly to avoid looking at his boxers.

"You're right." I smile, and nod, "As long as you put some clothes on." He laughs before walking back toward the bed. "I wasn't kidding."


	5. Dive to the Heart

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the related characters.**

Author's note: Thanks so much for reading my story! I hope you all continue to like it! This is where things start really picking up, and I mean by a lot! This is the first Wonder on the list so we're getting there. I hope you all like this chapter and if you have the time please review! Thanks!

Part V: Dive to the Heart

Giza isn't too far from our hotel in Cairo, maybe twenty minutes, but the Pyramid comes into view several miles back.

"Wow! Is that it?" Sora leans closer to the window so he can better see the stone structure.

"Yep."

"How did they build that? It must have taken hundreds of years…"

"Nope, just a lot of slaves." Sora leans back from the window and looks at me. "Look there are some tour buses." I point to the base of the structure where four buses are waiting. "So how do you usually go about these things?" I unbuckle and grab my bag before getting out of the car. Sora's first words are muffled from my hearing.

"I don't know, straight in I guess. It's worked for me so far."He takes out the bag I gave him with a flashlight and his old clothes that he loves so much.

"I'm not sure how well that will work. Security around here is going to be tight. Although, with all these tourists, we may be able to sneak in, the guards may be distracted." I look forward at the imposing structure, which apparently holds secrets beyond those already uncovered.

"You're sure the Keyhole will be here? What about any of these other pyramids?" he points down the row of pyramids, and then looks back at me.

"This is the only Wonder left standing, so it's the only one I am sure about. That is if Merlin's right."

"He is. Let's go!" Sora smiles and starts walking to the pyramid entrance. Below the entrance path, a number of tour groups have begun to gather. There are probably twenty or so people there now, so we should be able to slip in. If all goes well, but my guess is something will not go well.

"A tour will be our best bet. They go into the pyramid."

"Where would we go from there?" Sora and I blend into the crowd that has grown with the addition of another tour bus.

"I'm not sure, how do you know where to go one these things?" I keep my head moving, trying not to seem suspicious.

"You know none of these adventures are ever the same. We can't do everything the way I did." Sora's voice is just above a whisper.

"It got you this far. I was hoping it would get us though here." I can see Sora laugh as our guide arrives. She leads us into the chamber, and the lights immediately darken. Hieroglyphs cover the walls to our right and left.

"What are these pictures?" Sora reaches his hand out to the wall.

"Don't touch those!" I grab his arm and wrench it back, "They're the way the Egyptians wrote. The pictures are like words."

"Can you read them?"

"No, but I can read that." I point to the small hanging sign to our left that reads _Entrance Forbidden_. It's connected to a line across a tunnel travelling down from the chamber we're in now.

"Do you think the Keyhole is down there?"

"That's my best guess."

"I wonder why we haven't seen any Heartless yet. If we're near the Keyhole they should be everywhere."

"Count your blessings." There, the tour guide has her back turned. I hold Sora back, and let the remainder of the crowd to pass. Once the group is beyond the corner, I step over the line into the tunnel, Sora follows. "Okay, so we're far enough from the group, you can put on your old clothes if you really want. The widest smile I've seen from him comes out, and he pulls out his clothes and swaps them around.

"It feels so much better." He runs his hands along the fabric. It's kinda weird, but whatever.

"Okay, keep your eyes open. Who knows what we'll find down here." I use my flashlight to, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Sora's light falls on my face.

"I don't know. It looked like one of the hieroglyphs moved. There it was again!" I move my light along the edge of the hieroglyphics.

"Are there any other lights down here?" Sora's light moves about the tunnel.

"Look, lanterns!" I pull one of the torches hanging along the wall. Without warning torches throughout the tunnel begin to light, illuminating the tunnel. This time I'm sure of it. The hieroglyphics are moving.

"See I told you! I told you they…" Before I can finish three of them jump from the wall and with black puffs of smoke transform into these creatures.

"They're Heartless!" A flash of light and Sora's Keyblade appears in his hand. Without so much as another word, he runs forward attacking at the…Heartless. I grab my bag and find my father's small handgun. I hope this works. One of the Heartless turns from Sora to look at me. I feel fear constrict my spine. I need to move, but what do I. Operating only on instinct, I pull the trigger. A moment's relax finds me when the bullet knocks the creature back, but that moment is too much, and the thing is back coming at me. My fear becomes utter panic, I can't think of what to do. I can't seem to think. The creature lashes out toward me. I close my eyes hoping for the end to come quick.

What happened? Am I alive? I open my eyes, but find only blackness, absolute darkness. I place my hands against my body to make sure that I still have one.

"Sora?...Are you there?" Shouting only leads me to echoes. My steps release loud clanks as I walk forward. Again, I stop; moving has gotten me nowhere. Without warning hundreds of white doves spring from the darkness, flying away. Beneath them lies what looks like stained glass, a perfect circle of stained glass with…Sora's image on it? As I move closer, I can see that it is Sora, but what I can't understand is why. What is this place? Why am I here…how did I get here? Did that…Heartless do this to me? I move to the center of this platform. A loud rumble quakes the platform, and I try to stabilize myself. At the same time, three stone pedestals rise from the glass. The rumbling stops and three flashes of light appear above the pedestals. As they fade, three objects that to me look like weapons wait where the flashes once were. Stepping closer, I see that they are a rod, a sword, and a shield. A voice enters my thoughts.

_The power to change the world lies beyond. Make a wise choice of which you shall keep and which you shall lose._

I step forward to reach my hand out to the sword, and the voice again fills my mind.

_The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is courage what you seek?_

I step back; I don't want to make the wrong choice. I look to my right and there waits the rod and to my left the shield. With my hand outstretched I move for the rod, and as I expected, the voice returns as I approach.

_The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is inner strength what you crave?_

Okay, so I so far have courage and inner strength, I wonder what the shield holds. I wait in front of it and take a deep breath before extending my hand.

_The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all._ _Is kindness to aid friends what you desire?_

I guess I need to look at my options, so I move away from them. I have to take one and give one away. Courage, inner strength, and kindness to aid friends, what do I need? Clearly whatever decision I make will affect this entire journey. Without courage, I won't get anywhere, I'll be a lifeless blob scared to think what will happen. Inner strength…does that have to do with magic because it said the power of the mystic. Sora told me that magic does exist, at least in his world, so is that what it's talking about? What about the kindness to aid friends? I wouldn't be anywhere without my friends. I wonder if the one I give up will be truly striped from my being or will I just be left with a little less? I turn back to the pedestals, I have my decision.

_Chose wisely_

I reach out for the sword and wrap my fingers around the hilt.

_Is this what you wish to gain?_

I nod, and the thing vanishes from my hand. What just happened? I thought it said I would keep that?

_What do you wish to give?_

I look over at the staff before taking the few steps toward it. I reach out my hand and grasp the handle.

_Is this what you wish to give?_

Again, I nod and again it disappears.

_You have chosen the power of the warrior at the price of the power of the mystic…is this your choice?_

I nod again, and all three pedestals drop back into the ground with another quake. In front of me returns the sword, but when I take hold of it this time, it drops into my hand, where it stays.

The crinkle of glass fills the air and before I have a chance to move, the platform shatters into thousands of glass shards, but instead of falling with gravity, I float down with my feet catching myself on another glass pillar that has the same image of Sora, but is tinged red instead of blue. I look up to where I feel from, and a few shards are still descending. Behind me comes a sound like feet scrunching paper. I whip on the balls of my feet to see three creatures like the ones in the dream standing there. I raise the sword in front of my body to protect myself, time for those sparring lessons to finally pay off. Two of the creatures drop into the ground like shadows while the other starts failing its claws at me. I take only a few steps closer to it, while making sure to watch the other two. It jumps forward and I swing out the sword. The creature flies back and skids a short bit. I need to stay calm this time. I have to watch everything that happens, and not get lost in the moment. It takes another two strikes for the first creature to die in a puff of darkness. It feels so natural, like the sword is handling the moving. Each movement flows into the next with only a slight provocation from me. The next two fall with similar ease, and silence again blankets the pillar. After a second a set of stained glass stairs appear one by one until they reach another pillar whose face is far above my view.

Upon my arrival at this next pillar, the stairs shatter, falling into the abyss below.

_Beware the darkness of your own heart and the poisons it brings_

I look down at my shadow, which has become deformed in the intense light. Even as I gaze upon it, it becomes more misshaped, and then it stands from the pillar. It grows larger and more bizarre, until I'm looking into the eyes of an enormous creature whose body is black as the emptiness around us. In its center is a heart-shaped void, and its eyes are the only discernible features I can see of the face. I hold the sword up and wait for what's coming.

This beast's movements are lumbering but powerful. Every step shakes the pillar and his fist falls make me nearly lose my balance. I try ramming using the sword to fight the thing, but it is taking all of my energy and concentration.

What seems like hours and dozens of deep gashes to my body later, the beast finally staggers backward, his weight tilting the pillar. From him come pools of darkness, and my feet sink deep. I can feel the darkness surrounding me.

_Don't be afraid. Light will always find a way._

A breath escapes my lungs and I'm completely submerged. After all that, this will be how it ends.

My eyes open, and Sora's face is right there.

"Gah!?" My scream bounces around the tight tunnel.

"Thank goodness, you're okay." Sora leans back against one of the walls and falls to the ground.

"What happened?" I try to sit up.

"I don't know. I fought off the rest of the Heartless and you were knocked out when I came back. What happened here? I didn't see you, did the Heartless attack you?" Sora stands again.

"One of those Heartless came after me, and then everything went black. I went through this whole thing…was it maybe a…dream? But what about…" I set my hand against the floor and find something solid beneath it. I look down and under my hand is a Keyblade.


	6. The Keyblade

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts.**

A/N: Some ending last time huh? :D Well now things are going to get really interesting! we're almost done with the first wonder and who knows what it will hold! I hope you all like it! Please review! And thanks to Tiago and kingdomheartsevanescencefood for the reviews! They mean a lot and I love to read them! Thanks!

Part VI: The Keyblade

"A…Keyblade? But…but how?" It doesn't make sense. I hadn't heard of the Keyblade until I met Sora two days ago, and now there's one sitting in my hand.

"You have a Keyblade?! I thought you said you'd never heard of them?!" Sora looks hurt as if I betrayed him.

"I hadn't! I don't know why I do… I…I…"I can't find the words to answer. I look at the mythic weapon that is somehow still in my hand. "It happened after that last battle. Whatever happened during it gave me this." I hold it out in front of me. Sora wraps his hand around the guard, and I release my grip as he draws it from my hand.

"I just want to see something. Call it back to you."I wonder what's going on, but I'll do what he asks. I imagine the Keyblade in my extended hand. There's a flash of light, and the Keyblade vanishes from his hand and reappears in mine.

"Okay, cool! You're a Keyblade Wielder, that's awesome!" Sora's cheeriness returns. "Come on let's go! We've got to be close." He turns away and prepares to continue down the tunnel.

"You don't wonder how this happened?" I'm still stunned.

"Sure, but like I said this morning, maybe you and I share some sort of connection, and that's what gave you the Keyblade." He stops and looks back at me.

"I guess, but…"

"Come on Logan, we can look at this after we've saved the world." I nod and walk farther down the tunnel, Sora a few steps ahead. As we walk, the hieroglyphs thin, but I keep the Keyblade out. Feeling the weigh in my hand is somehow reassuring. It also helps me to accept that this is not a dream. Strangely, we haven't seen another Heartless for the past…spoke too soon.

"Sora look!" I point out to the wall and Heartless like before jump out from it.

"I guess this is your first Keyblade lesson then." Sora's Keyblade appears in his hand. I bring it up in front me, and drop back into a defensive stance. The three Heartless jump at us. This time I'm not an immediate failure. My heart rate quickens as I rush to beat down this monster. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Sora's not struggling whatsoever. The other two are focused on him, but this one is still kicking my butt. I can feel my lungs struggle to keep up. My enter focus is on defending myself and staying alive. This thing's got a hookish weapon that looks like a handheld scythe, and it swings it at my face. The Heartless presses me back through the tunnel. My foot catches on the stairs and my feet fall out from under me. The Heartless brings back it weapon, and I can only hope that I can get back up. Sweeping out its feet, I regain my footing. I swing the Keyblade around and smash it down into the Heartless. A crystalline red heart rises from the dissolving form of the Heartless. My heart is still beating faster than ever and my lungs are fighting to catch up. I place my hands on my knees. The sweet is running out from under my hair; I look up to see Sora's blurring form running toward me.

"Logan? Logan! Are you okay?" Sora skids to a stop. I gasp for air before I can respond.

"Yeah…yeah…I'm alright." I stand, but it's tough. I dig the Keyblade into the dirt to help hold myself up. "Wow…that royally sucked. How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Sora puts his hands behind his head.

"Handle all that fighting. I thought I was going to die." I pull out the Keyblade and stand on my own.

"You start to get used to it after a while. Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Sora tilts his head.

"Yep. I'll be fine." I inhale deeply one last time before returning to normal breathing. Sora mouths "okay" before turning to look down the tunnel. "So do you think we're heading the right way?"

"Given the Heartless, I would say so. You ready to keep going?" Sora points down the tunnel. I nod and start down. Sora and I have to work together to try to push open the door at the end of this chamber. It feels like it weighs five hundred pounds, but it won't move. I shove against the block one last time. There's a blast of dust and some specks of stone, but it doesn't move in any. He looks up at me with a confused expression, but a smile spreads across his face. "I have an idea." He steps back from the door and raises his Keyblade. A blue and white orb gathers around the tip before streaming into a thin beam that contacts the door. As the light fades, a loud sound echoes through the chamber that is like an old set of lock-tumblers unlocking, and the two stones separate.

"How…did you know to do that?" My eyes stay wide.

"Practice…and if you look close, you could see a keyhole shimmering against the stone." He snickers. Beyond what used to be closed doors is a hall slightly wider than the one we're now in. He goes in first and the torches light as soon as he steps in. The chamber is almost empty, no hieroglyphs, only six stone columns holding up the ceiling and a dirt floor.

"What? I was kind of expecting something more impressive. You know for saving the world and all." I scan the room, but there's nothing more.

"Look there's another door." He points to the back of the room. I don't know how I managed to miss that. It's surrounded by an ornate gold and sapphire molding. Etchings cover the stone panels, and between the two panels lay a deeply carved keyhole in the door.

"That must be it." I summon the Keyblade back to my hand. This will be it. Beyond that door will probably be something tougher than anything I've faced so far. I doubt that Sora will have much trouble.

"You ready for this?" Sora smiles at me.

"No, but I'm not going to be. Let's go." Sora nods once and aims his Keyblade at the keyhole, opening the door.


	7. Fight for the Light

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its amazing characters.** **They all belong to Square Enix, Co. Ltd.**

A/N: I want to say thanks for all the views on this story so far! Here's the last bit in the Pyramid of Giza, so things are going to keep rolling at a fast pace. I hope you like it! Please review! Speaking of, thanks for the reviews Tiagodasilvacunha and kingdomheartsevanescencefood ! Tiagodasilvacunha: I think we all would! kingdomheartsevanescencefood :That's not weird, I bet Sora keeps a shadow around...you know for old time's sake XD!

* * *

Part VII: Fight for the Light

"Here we go. Hold it out in front of you like this." Sora plants his feet apart and holds his Keyblade out in front of him. Step by step, I match his movement.

"Like this?" I turn to look at him.

"Perfect, now imagine it unlocking the door." I close my eyes and do as he says. I feel my Keyblade kick back, and I hear the unlocking sound. I open my eyes again and watch the two halves of the decorated door pull open. Beyond it lays blackness.

"What do you think's back there?" Sora's sets his Keyblade on his shoulder.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Sora laughs before he answers.

"Probably, but you know more about this world than I do."

"Not that much more." I stare into the darkness for a few moments longer. Whatever's back there…well I shouldn't think about it. I'm just going to get myself freaked out…more than I already am.

"Well, let's go then." Now, Sora seems far more serious. I nod in response, and he starts walking into the abyss with me in tow. Five steps in, the doors close and our vision is blacked out, but we keep walking. In the next steps, the edges of the blackness become filled with these nebula-like green and black clouds.

"Wha! What was that?" I search around for the source of this super loud clattering sound.

"Look, lightning." Sora points to one of the new crackles of blue lightning in the clouds in front of us. Every few seconds another bolt erupts.

"Where are we?" I search the…chamber or whatever, which is easier since I'm used to the lightning.

"There's the Keyhole." Following his finger, I look up into the clouds and a massive Keyhole is sitting in silence.

"How do we…" As I speak, a pinkish light sweeps over the Keyhole. "That can't be good."

"Not usually." Sora lowers into what I've come to find out is his fighting pose. I swing back the Keyblade, getting ready for whatever was about to happen. A pool of darkness that could consume the two of us appears and vanishes just as quick, but now in front of us is something far more frightening. "It's a Heartless!" This…Heartless looks like a man with a dog's head, but it has yellow eyes that are perfect circles. A jagged line forms the only noticeable mouth. There's a big red and black heart-shaped symbol on the front, above a brown skirt along its waist.

Sora runs forward to the beast. I follow behind him. My pulse quickens again. The rush takes over my mind and I start running on instinct. I have to watch every one of the movements this Heartless makes. They're quick and sharp, clawed hands swiping after us. The sounds of lightning have dulled against my breathing. The momentum of the Keyblade moves me. My actions become faster. I've totally lost Sora, but I can't focus on that. I think, I die. Fatigue builds, my legs start to ache. I feel a claw pass just over my head. My foot catches on itself. I fall. I have to get up…I can't wait…hurry. I scramble and get to my feet using the Keyblade. My breathing is out of control. Sweat is running into my eyes, blurring what little vision the adrenaline hadn't gotten to.

"Logan!" A voice calls from above. "Throw your Keyblade at the heart!" Sora comes running down the Heartless' arm and points at the symbol on its chest. I nod and wind back the Keyblade before flinging it toward the creature. Sora's flies to the same point. Both stab into the heart symbol. The creature clutches at its chest. Like glass, the entire monster shatters, wisps of darkness evaporate from the shards. Their Keyblades fall to the nebula-like ground. Sora lands from whatever fall he made. I walk slowly toward the Keyblades. My body doesn't want to move at this slow pace. Everything inside me wants to run. I work hard to calm my breathing, which is still coming in short gasps. My hand shaking, I pick up my Keyblade, and let the weight sink into my hand.

"We did it!" Sora's energy is somehow unchanged. He grabs his Keyblade and twirls it in the air.

"How can you…" I take a moment to breathe, "do that?"

"Practice. You'll get the hang of it." He smiles and sets the Keyblade across his shoulders. "Come on, let's seal that Keyhole." As he finishes, the pinkish barricade dissolves. Sora aims his Keyblade and jerks his head toward it. I nod and raise mine. Light gathers at their tips and shoots out into the Keyhole. With a loud locking sound, the Keyhole begins to break away and fall into the abyss beyond us. From where the Keyhole was falls a small Pyramid shaped charm. Sora picks it up before handing it to me. "Here put it on your Keyblade." I take the object from him and hook it where the Mickey symbol had been. The Keyblade changes with a flash of light. It now looks much more like those weapons the Heartless were using. It has a sharp hook at the end with smaller teeth inside the hook. Normally, I would ask what happened, but I just don't care enough.

My vision goes stark white and clears back in the room of the Pyramid. I turn around at the sound of the two stone doors closing again, and the keyhole on them vanishes in a glimmer of light. "One down, six to go! Where to next?" I'm finally able to breathe like normal.

"Let's get out of here first."


	8. My Friends are My Power

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything under the Kingdom Hearts label nor do I own any of the Disney characters.**

A/N:Wow everything is starting to come together now. The story is making more sense, and there's a surprise in this one that I think everyone is going to like. Well, I don't want to spoil anything, so I'm just going to let the story do the...er...talking I guess. I hope you like it! Please review! Thanks!

* * *

Part VIII: My Friends are My Power

The desert air feels so nice. I take a huge breath, letting the fresh oxygen flood my lungs. The sun has fallen, so the temperature has dropped. Stars dot the sky. Sora steps out behind me.

"So, where next?" He puts his hands on his hips.

"You don't get the concept of taking a moment to relax, do you?" I ask while the soft wind blows through my hair.

"Logan, the world is in danger, we don't have time to relax." Sora places his hand on my shoulder.

"We're going to need some help. There's no way we can do this on our own." I scan the sky as if it will help. From the corner of my eye, I see Sora squinting at the stars.

"Logan, I think you're going to like this." Sora points up at the sky. A little dot materializes among the stars, but I can't make it out. I have no idea how Sora managed to see anything about it. The dot grows into a form with a vapor trail. This new thing continues to come closer.

"How can you tell what that is?" My eyes don't leave the flying object.

"I had a feeling." Sora steps forward. The object becomes…a…person? It…they…are on some flying thing and they keep coming closer. The person is covered in…armor? Bluish silver and gold plates cover their body. The person lands whatever they're flying.

"Sora! I found you! Just where Merlin said." The armored person smacks the left shoulder of his armor and in a flash of light, a boy is standing there about Sora's height with blonde hair spiked up.

"Ven! How did you find us?" Sora's nearly jumping.

"Merlin told us everything and I rushed out here to help." The boy and Sora move closer together before they both turn to me. The boy looks at me for a while before he says anything, "Hi, I'm Ventus, but everyone calls me Ven."

"I'm Logan, are you from the island too?" Ven looks over at Sora a little confused.

"Logan was born on the Islands, but was taken here. No, Ven isn't from the Islands, but he lives there now with all of us. I can't believe you're here!"

"Yeah, Merlin told us how to find this place and I rushed here as soon as I could."

"Well, we're going to need your help. We have six more Keyholes, and I bet we're going to have more trouble the longer we go." I cross my arms.

"So where to next?" Sora turns to me after Ven's question.

"The hotel. There's no way we can get anywhere tonight. It'll do us all some good to get some rest."I step down from the pyramid's entrance.

"Then where do we go?" I hear Sora and Ven descend the steps.

"My guess is the Lighthouse of Alexandria. It's about a three hour drive from here." I point north toward Alexandria.

"Why not just fly? It got us here?" That's an idea I hadn't thought of.

"We might be able to. Just hold on?" I get out my phone and start weaving my way through the internet.

"What's he doing?" Ven's voice is somewhat hushed.

"Trying to see if he can find a flight. They use a thing here called the 'internet'"

"Why not just use our gliders?"

"What gliders?" I look up from the phone.

"Our Keyblade Gliders, Sora said you have a Keyblade, right?" Ven holds out his Keyblade.

"Is that the thing you came here on?"

"Sure is!"

"Ven, I've told you I've never used that sort of thing before." Sora crosses his arms.

"It won't hurt to try! Here just do what I do!" Ven tosses his Keyblade into the air. There's a flash of white light and just like he said his "Keyblade Glider" comes sliding down on the air. Sora looks over at me, and I shrug. I don't know if it'll work or not, but we may as well try. I put my phone back in my pocket and call out my Keyblade. Sora and I throw them into the air in unison and like Ven said, they both fall back to Earth in a new form, hovering about a foot off the ground.

"Cool! It works!" Sora hops on top of his, but struggles to regain his balance. "Whoa…wow, Ven you made this look way too eaaassy." He starts tipping forward.

"Lots 'a practice." Ven laughs. I'm more cautious with mine. Like Sora's and Ven's this thing is more of a snowboard, so balance will be the key. I get both feet up on the glider, and find out that it is very much like snowboarding, which makes me ireally/i thankful for all those family weekends up to Sugarloaf. Unlike Sora, I keep my balance and manage to make it work with relative ease. "Nice job Logan." Ven joins us a few feet above the ground.

"It's a lot like snowboarding." I laugh as I try to make the glider respond to my movements. "Okay, how do we make them go back?" I bring it as low to the ground as I can.

"Just hop off." I do as I'm told and almost instantly the glider becomes my Keyblade again. Sora and Ven do the same.

"Cool. I guess we won't need the flight then." I pull out my phone and clear out the search.

"So where's this hotel then?" Ven puts his hands behind his head.

"It's about a twenty minute drive, that way." Sora points toward the dim lights of Cairo.

"And we should probably get going. It's already almost 9 o'clock. Come on." I start for the car.

"What is this thing?" Ven's question makes me want to bash my head into the door. Not this again. Instead of responding, I look at Sora.

"It's a car," he gets what I wanted him to do; "the people use them here to get from place to place. They're kinda weird, but they're helpful. Pull on the little handle on the door." Ven does what Sora tells him, "And sit down and we're ready to go. Oh! And put that strap there into the little red thing on your other side." Ven nods, struggles with the seat belt for a moment and then figures it out.

"Everyone good?" I hold my hand over the key. They both nod and we get underway.

* * *

I slide our card in the door and graciously walk into our hotel room. I want nothing more than to take a shower after this long and bizarre day.

"I'm gonna steal the bathroom." Sora slides around the doorway into the small bathroom. There goes my plan. Oh well, I walk over to one of the beds and flop down. Ven stands in the doorway.

"You know you can sit down if you want." I sit up and point over to Sora…and Ven's bed. Ven smiles.

"Thanks!" He walks over and lowers himself to the bed. I nod and grab the remote for the TV, I want to see what's happened as far as the world is concerned. Thankfully, BBC is being broadcast here.

_Our top story tonight, strange creatures attack Egypt, Greece and Iraq._

My stomach drops and I suddenly feel like I'm going to puke. It's made worse when I see the now all too familiar shape of a Heartless appear on screen. I stand and rush to the bathroom door.

"Sora, you need to see this." A few moments pass before the door opens and Sora comes out sopping wet with only a towel on.

"What is it?" He shakes the water off his hair like a dog.

"Just come look." Sora follows me back into the room, the story is still playing. I watch the color drain from his face.

"That's not good." Ven doesn't look away from the TV.

"This may be much more difficult than we thought." Sora still hasn't said anything.

"I'm going to go finish my shower then. I can't be of any help in a towel." He turns away and walks into the bathroom. Ven and I share a worried look.

"What're we going to do?" I hope Ven has an answer because I really don't know.

"Well, Merlin told us that there are seven Keyholes in this world, and you guys already sealed one, right?"

"Yeah…" I'm not sure where he's going with this.

"Then I think the only thing we can do is find and seal the other six Keyholes."

"I guess you're…"

"Logan! Behind you!" Ven jumps from the bed; I turn just in time to see a Heartless leaping from the wall towards us. Ven has his Keyblade out and mine isn't far behind. Three more Heartless appear in the room.

"We've gotta go!" We still have a clear path out into the hall. Running to the bathroom, I bang on the door. "Sora! We've got to go! There're Heartless in here!" A muffled shout breaks through the growing commotion. Ven's gotten all of the Heartless taken care of by the time Sora finally gets out of the bathroom, fully dressed this time.

"What's going on?!" Sora runs from the bathroom as the last Heartless dissolves into darkness.

"We can't stay here. The Heartless showed up in the room. We've got to go. Grab your stuff." I sling the backpack up onto my shoulders and start for the door. Sora picks up his backpack and we rush into the hall. As soon as we do, six Heartless appear in the hall. "Perfect." Sora summons his Keyblade.

"Let's do this." He seems very serious. He and Ven are the first ones attacking the Heartless, but this time I'm not far behind them.

It takes about three minutes for us to break through to the lobby, but when we get there, a new, bigger Heartless appears behind us.

"Run!" I order only on instinct.

"We can take it." Sora doesn't move. Ven's moved a bit closer though.

"Sora, we need to go. Come on!" Ven and I start for the door.

"But…"

"Now!" Sora nods and chases after us. Once outside we each get out gliders and start flying away. An instant later the front of the hotel explodes into shards as the Heartless bursts through. The three of us fly away with an extra burst of speed.

"That was close. Next time…don't try to be the hero." Sora's riding pretty close to me, so I don't have to shout. He grimaces.

"He's right, Sora, that was way too close. So, where is this lighthouse?" Ven changes the subject.

"Underwater."


	9. Under the Sea

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or iPod. They belong to Square Enix, Co. Ltd and Apple respectively.**

A/N: I'm glad that you guys liked the little cast addition. This chapter is more of an exposition, but it has some moments that I really like, so I hope you do too! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I love reading them, so by all means please review! Thanks!

* * *

Part IX: Under the Sea

Following the Nile is our best bet. It should hopefully lead us right to Alexandria.

"What do you mean 'underwater?'" Ven pulls his glider in closer.

"The Lighthouse was on an island off the coast of Alexandria. The Lighthouse was destroyed a couple thousand years ago and as water levels rose, the entire thing became submerged." I keep my eyes forward. These things are tough to pilot and I can't really give up any of my attention. Sora's already fallen a few times, but he seems to be doing alright now.

"Then how are we going to get to it?" Ven raises an eyebrow.

"That's not a problem. The bigger problem is what're we going to do if any Heartless show up."

"When I was in Atlantica with Ariel, we used magic more than physical attacks." Sora recovers from a brief stumble. I start laughing under my breath. "What's so funny?"

"I know it's bound to be different in our world, but here magic is a bunch of cheap tricks that people watch for entertainment. Things like pulling a rabbit out of a hat or escaping from a straight-jacket underwater."

"Yep. It's definitely different." Ven laughs.

"Yeah, in our world magic is stuff like shooting fire or ice or air or thunder from the Keyblade. There's magic that gathers stuff together, stops it from moving or even squishes things." Sora mashes his palms together.

"It does some other cool stuff too, but it takes a lot of practice." Ven chuckles, presumably at Sora's hand gestures.

While we are all laughing, something explodes in front of us. We spilt, trying to avoid whatever the thing is

"Heartless!" Ven yells from above. I look up toward the sky and see three flying creatures plummeting at us. I don't know how we're going to fight from up here. Our Keyblades are holding us up! Still, Ven seems to know what to do. He's spinning his glider into the Heartless. Sora and I glance at each other before trying to copy Ven. We have less luck.

The Heartless nearest me bashes against the glider. I lose my balance and start to fall. Everything tumbles around, but I manage to stay on. Sora's recovery is even less graceful than mine. I'm amazed though, Ven hasn't lost his balance and he's taken out two of those Heartless!

The last one proves tougher. It evades most of Ven's attack. Sora and I agree that getting in the middle would only make it worse. Ven keeps kicking his glider out and smashing into the Heartless. Sora drops his glider and jumps off. Grabbing his falling Keyblade, Sora hurls it at the Heartless, making the thing evaporate on contact. The shock in Ven's eyes vanishes and his usual smile returns.

"Thanks!" He drops down to my level, probably a hundred feet above the ground.

"No problem!" Sora remounts his glider and rises to us. "How much further do we have to go?" We get headed forward again.

"I think those are the city's lights over there, so not much longer now." I point out to the horizon.

"What's the plan once we get there?" Ven asks.

"We'll need to get some scuba gear. That'll help us stay underwater longer."

"And then what?" Sora turns to the two of us.

"We have to find a way into the Lighthouse."

"At the bottom of the sea?" Ven sighs.

"Yeah…we're here." Alexandria's lights and life travels beneath us, and for the most part everything seems normal. I doubt it will stay that way. The report on the news said that the Heartless were attacking, but I don't know if that means people are in danger or if they've managed to keep a relative amount of control over the situation. I wonder if any of this had to do with our sealing the Keyhole. Then again it may have just been the timing of it all. Sighing, I move on there's not much else we can do about it. "We're going to have to find a place to stay or something because we can't get any way down to the Lighthouse until morning."

"Do you have any idea where to start?" Sora asks as we lower our gliders to the ground and hop off.

"All I know is that it is somewhere off the coast of the city. I think you can take diving expeditions down there." I grab my Keyblade as it falls.

"So there should be signs or something then?" Sora jumps to the concrete.

"That's my guess."

"Well is anything open here? Somewhere we can stay for a while?" Ven scans the cityscape.

"I doubt it. There are probably some clubs open, but nothing worthwhile to us."

"Great. So what do we do then?" Sora sighs.

"Wait it out, I guess."

"We could always try practicing." Ven sets his Keyblade up on his shoulder. Sora and I look at each other before shrugging.

"Sure." Our responses come in unison.

Practice is just what we do. Sora and Ven try to teach me how to use magic, but it usually ends with someone getting hurt, usually me. After a while, I start to get some of it, at least to the point where I don't hurt myself or Sora or Ven. The sun begins to rise toward the end of our practicing, but there's still a lot of time before anything opens, so we end up sitting on the beach.

"So is this what it's like back…home?" I've started to come to terms with that _little_ detail.

"Sorta. We hang out on this one island away from where we all live. There're a bunch of trees and a waterfall…"

"So, nothing like this is what you're saying?" I smile.

"Yeah, pretty much." Ven answers for him.

"Good, I'm not a desert person." We all laugh.

"Do you think you will ever come to the islands?" Ven shifts in the sand.

"I don' t know…maybe. I mean my entire life is here, I'd be giving up…"

"You said you were only seventeen you have so much more of your life to live!" Sora slaps me on the shoulder.

"But still, this is the only family I've ever had. I mean Merlin said I was from your world, not that anyone there knew who I was or who my parents were or anything." I look over at Sora before turning to Ven.

"That doesn't mean anything! I know everyone back home will love you!" I chuckle or maybe it's more of a snicker.

"That's not the problem though."

"Sora, Logan's right. It's not like with the three of us, how we had nothing left anywhere else. He has a life here…"

"Wait. 'Three of us?'" Sora never mentioned others, actually he never mentioned anyone beyond Riku, Kairi and himself so I'm not sure why I'm surprised.

"Yeah, Me, Terra and Aqua were Keyblade masters ten years before him, but some stuff happened and our home was destroyed.

"You're ten years older than him? I would've sworn you were the same age." Now, I'm really confused.

"Sorta, it's kinda complicated. Technically, I'm ten years older than him, but some stuff that we can talk about later happened, so I'm pretty much the same age as him, for all intents and purposes."

"Ah." I still don't get it, but whatever, "so who are Terra and Aqua?"

"They're my best friends! We went through some tough stuff together, but then Sora helped us out! We all live together on the islands along with Vanitas."

"I'm still surprised that Terra and Aqua agreed to that after all he put you guys through." Sora scoffs.

"He asked for our forgiveness and we gave it to him, there's not much else to it. Besides how could I stay mad at the other half of my Heart?"

"I guess that's true just like if I didn't get along with Roxas, we'd be in some trouble."

"Sorry, but for my own sake, can we change the topic a bit. I'm totally lost." Sora opens his mouth presumably to explain, but I stop him, "and I'm okay with that for the time being." Sora exhales and shuts his mouth. Ven just laughs.

We have to sit on the beach another few hours before any of the local shops start to open. In the meantime, Sora's shown Ven the wonders of the iPod world, and they've both become consumed by some game or other thing.

"Hey guys, I think the scuba shop's opened up. We can get going." Sora and Ven nod, but offer little else. "Guys? Hey guys? Sora! Ven! World in crisis here!"

"Oh…yeah…right…right sorry!" Ven and Sora both scramble to their feet. We start out for the city. Since we're already on the beach it doesn't take us long to find an equipment shop. Thankfully, the shopkeeper speaks English, which is a great relief. It was hard enough at the hotel in Cairo that first night. I get us what we need, three sets of scuba and wetsuits, and we're out by the water within half an hour. The shopkeeper is even going to take us out on his boat to the Lighthouse's old island or at least the water over top of it. We're on our own after that, but I'm not complaining. It's better than having to swim out there.

Once out on his boat, it takes about a minute for us to arrive at our dive site. The shopkeeper gives us some instructions on how to use the radios and the other essential pieces of the equipment, like the respirators.

I drop into the water first, the warm Mediterranean waters surrounding me then comes Sora and Ven.

"You guys alright?" The first puffs of air leave their masks.

"Yep. Just took a minute." Ven's voice comes across the radio.

"I take it that is the Lighthouse?" I follow Sora's gesture to a pile of rubble lying on the sea floor.

"That's my guess. We just need to find a way in."

"I'll go around the back and see if I can find anything." Ven swims ahead. Sora and I check around the front of the Lighthouse's base. All that's left are the steps that led to the actual lighthouse. Stones from the collapsed tower are scattered around the sea floor. Sora goes searching through those old rocks, while I move opposite to Ven along the remaining stones. Most of them seem normal, just chunks of stone stuck together.

"Guys, I think I found something." Ven's voice is somewhat garbled over the radio.

"What is it?" Sora swims up behind me.

"I'm not sure, it looks like a lot of pictures and one of them is a keyhole shape." Ven rises so we can see him. "They're down over this way." He points down. Sora and I swim over to where Ven was pointing. As we round the stones, Ven leads us down into a small opening just large enough for our tanks to fit through. The lights we got at the shop help to illuminate this makeshift cave that Ven is floating at the back of. He points to the upper wall. Shining my light reveals the drawings that Ven mentioned earlier.

"Just like I guessed, they're hieroglyphs. Like in the pyramid." I swing the light around, revealing more hieroglyphs on the other walls.

"What do you think they mean?" Sora uses his light to scan all the hieroglyphs.

"I don't know." My light crosses over another deeper opening. "Hey guys look at this." Sora and Ven spin around. The light doesn't reach the bottom of the chamber.

"Looks like a good place to start." Sora swims into this new cavern. Ven nods before following with me in tow. The water gets colder the deeper we go. My skin tingles as the pressure increases and the temperature decreases.

"We can't go any further." Sora knocks his fist against the back wall. "It doesn't sound like there's anything back there."

"Okay, so now what?" Ven's light scans the walls. There must be something; we have to get to that Keyhole.

"Found something!" I shine the light at the ceiling. In it lie two stone keyholes. Sora, Ven and I look at each other, take out our Keyblades and prepare to open the two locks. Here we go…


	10. Lock and Key

**Disclaimer: I would love to own Kingdom Hearts, but I don't and Square Enix, Co. Ltd does.**

A/N: Hi everyone! Wow this story already has over 700 views! So happy! :DDD Ahem...sorry about that...so what's going to happen if they can't get into the Lighthouse? How are they going to seal the Keyhole? How are they going to save the world? I guess you'll just have to keep reading! I hope you like it! Thanks! Please review!

* * *

Part X - Lock and Key

"Why isn't it working?" Ven sounds a little frantic. He smacks his hand against his Keyblade as if it would do something.

"I don't know? That should have worked!" I motion without any real purpose. Sora looks over at me, and Ven's worry is showing through his expression.

"There has to be something else. We must be missing something." Sora scans his light around the small chamber. I start in the other direction. I don't know what we're expecting to find. I can't read any of these hieroglyphs and I doubt that we'll find anything else.

"Guys, I got it!" At the same time Sora's and my lights illuminate Ven. He's back over at the two keyholes carved in the stone. "I have an idea. Sora or Logan one of you put your Keyblade in one of these keyholes." He points at the closer of the two keyholes. Sora looks over at me and I shrug before inserting my Keyblade in the hole. Ven swims up behind me and slams his into the hole. He grabs the hilt of his Keyblade and turns it like he would an ordinary key. After the moment it takes me to realize what he did, I mimic the same movement with Sora coming up behind us. Between the two keyholes appears a light of blue light that widens until both keyholes are consumed. The light diminishes and the keyholes and a significant chunk of stone are gone, beyond is total blackness. "Let's go guys!" Ven swims into the now open chamber. Sora and I follow right behind. With our tanks and other equipment the small upward shaft is just big enough for us to pass through. Our lights don't help here, so I make sure to stay near Ven's feet. I know it's only a thin passage, but I don't want to have him turn off without us. That'd be the last thing I'd want, to be trapped underwater in some ancient lighthouse. What a story that'd be.

I guess my fear was for nothing because within another couple of seconds, a light begins to appear from above the passage. It's not very bright; actually, I'm not sure I should've even called it a light. It's more of a less dark spot. I'm not sure as to why, but Ven makes an abrupt stop, and I almost slam into his shoe.

"Hold on guys. I think we've found something." Ven's feet rise and…they leave the water… we must be under a pocket of air somehow. As soon as Ven's feet are out of the way, I pull myself from the water. It's very very dark in this chamber. I can't tell how large it is or what's even in here. I pull off my mask as Sora emerges from the water. The light is limited, but I can see Ven and Sora take off their masks and gulp down a breath before shuttering.

"Eww…" Sora sticks out his tongue. "It tastes awful."

"The air here is a couple centuries old, it's pretty stale." I force back my own shutter. "I can't see a thing."

"Here, let me." The light from Ven's summoned Keyblade illuminates little. "Light!" A series of orbs of light burst out from around him and circle a number of times before fading.

"I think there were some torches along the wall." Sora's finger points to the wall about two yards up. Stepping forward, I reach out to the wall. My fingers don't perceive much at first, but as I reach up, they find something. I think it is a torch, like Sora said, and it slides from the wall.

"Hey Sora or Ven…" I walk back to them, "Can one of you light this?"

"Fire!" I drop the now lit torch that nearly singed my hands. Thankfully, it stays lit even after I drop it.

"Next time, Sora, wait until I'm ready…please." I pick the torch back up.

"Sorry about that, but at least it worked." Sora smiles, closing his eyes and tilting his head as well. I scowl at him, but at least the torch is lit and its light is enough to see a few other torches that line the walls. I take down two others and use mine to light them _without_ singeing anyone's hands. Ven and Sora walk to the walls with their own torches. The limits of the light expand with every torch we light as we move down this wide tunnel. The walls prove bare with the exception of torches every few yards.

"Do you have any idea where to go?" Ven swipes his torch back and forth along the right wall.

"No. This thing was built thousands of years ago and it's been underwater for a while too, so I don't think anyone knows what's down here." Ven turns to me as I finish.

"So, we're on our own." Sora joins the two of us. I nod with my mouth twisted in confusion.

"What's the plan then?" I take a step further forward.

"You're usually the plan man." Ven smiles.

"Thanks, but I'm trying to be serious." Ven's smile drops away and he looks toward Sora.

"I think all we can do is look for something in this tunnel. Thisi is /ione of the Wonders, right?" Sora turns back to look at me. I nod without looking at him. He's right. Our only real option is to search this tunnel, but the Keyhole has to be here.

"The only problem is I don't know how much of this wonder is left. For all we know there may not be a way to get to the Keyhole chamber easily." I take another couple steps forward, but there's nothing new, just more and more blank stone wall. It's amazing that even after all these years and all this water that this place is as nice as it is.

"Come on then! Let's go!" Ven runs up to me, but then slows way down, and the three of us, Sora followed behind Ven, continue down the tunnel, which is continuing to thin. Another probably three minutes pass without any change in the walls, but then the tunnel ends and the path becomes two.

"Which way?" Sora looks to the right path while Ven goes to the left and I stay put checking out the wall in front of us.

"We need to be careful. The Egyptians like to make tons of passages to get people lost."

"That might be the least of our worries!" Ven drops his torch and in the last bit of light, I see rows of those yellow eyed ant-like Heartless in front of us. The flash of light from Sora's and Ven's Keyblades shows that there are about twenty of the little pests. Keyblades in hand, the three of us charge for the swarming hoard.

Every time this gets a little easier, but I need to be careful. I'm not sure how thick this chunk of rock is. If I land wrong…never mind my quick leap worked. Ven uses a lot of fire to knock these things down, but they still are…agh! Nasty monster hit me in the back with its claws. I can't focus on the pain. I have to keep moving. The sensation of tightness leaves my body, and I lunge forward at these voracious things. One more…an exertion of energy puts an end to that one, and the chamber welcomes silence.

"I thought you had that Keychain on yours?" Sora walks over to me and points at my reverted Keyblade.

"Yeah, I didn't like the des…" I hiss as the pain returns. I fall forward.

"Log…" that's all I hear. The thing must have gotten me worse than I thought. So this is what…it's like to pass out.


	11. What Are We Going to Do?

**Disclaimer: I would love to say that I own Kingdom Hearts, but I don't.**

A/N:*Gasp*What's going to happen?! Logan's hurt! How are they going to figure anything out? What's going to happen to Logan? I know those answers, but you'll just have to read to find out! Thanks to everyone that's been reviewing and favoriting/following my story!

* * *

Part XI: What Are We Going to Do?

_This can't be happening._ Sora and I crouch over Logan's motionless body.

"Why isn't it working?! We've tried everything to heal him, but nothing's happened!" Sora paces around the now Heartless free chamber. I lean down, putting my ear to his chest.

"He's still breathing!" My relief expresses itself in a sigh. "And I think most of the bleeding is stopping." I pull my hand out from under his back and unlike the last time it comes out mostly clean. "He should be okay." I stand. I kind of wish we hadn't lit all the torches around. I need something to do with my hands; I'm starting to go a little crazy. I wish there was something I could do for him, but we've tried everything I could think of.

"I still can't believe we let this happen." Sora walks back beside me.

"What are we going to do?" Sora and I share blank stares.

"We can't just leave him here."

"I wasn't saying that. I was saying that we need a plan." I step closer to Logan's body.

"How's about we just keep him safe, look!" A couple Heartless jump from the water and come after us.

"Great. Just what we need." Sora and I run toward the new batch of Heartless. We need to watch out for Logan. My only concern is keeping him alive. These Heartless will tear him up if Sora and I can't keep they away. Everything depends on this. He's the only one that knows all of the Wonders. Not only that, he's my friend and I can't just let him become a Heartless. I hope Sora's doing…agh…nasty bugger. I swing my Keyblade around and destroy the monster that just attacked me. With that the chamber falls silent. Sora steps back with a satisfied grin to which I offer a smile. "We got 'em!"

"What'd ya expect?" Sora laughs as we return to Logan, who seems to be unharmed…ish. "Do you think we should try to move him?" Sora's Keyblade vanishes as does mine.

"No, we'll just hurt him more. That's the last thing we want."

"I guess we just sit here then and wait." Sora plops against a wall, and I join him. I just hope Logan'll be alright.

Sit is what we do…for a long time. To me it feels like at least an hour, but I doubt it really was, before both Sora and I hear something. Jumping up, we scan the room.

"More Heartless?" The sound comes from above us, so the roof is our best bet. Small falling stone chips are all we see. The sound, which is like footsteps, keeps going, and Sora and I keep searching. The footsteps change to a rumble and a stream of dust fills the air. I use my arms to block my eyes.

When the dust clears, we see what was making the sound. On the floor are two bodies, one on top of the other. I never thought I'd ever be happier to see these two.

"Terra! Aqua!" I run toward them. Aqua's lying on Terra.

"Ack!" Aqua screams as Terra pushes up on the ground and sends her tumbling off. Terra stands and brushes the dirt and leftover stone from his tan pants. Bending over, he helps Aqua up.

"Sorry 'bout that."

"At least you broke my fall." Aqua laughs.

"Aqua! Terra! What are you doing here?!" I'm so excited to see them. I kinda left without mentioning it to them.

"Ven! I'm so happy we found you!" Aqua pulls me into a hug, "You shouldn't run off like that!" She lets me go.

"I know…but when Merlin said…"

"Do you know how worried we were?" Terra squeezes me in his arms.

"Ack…Ter…ra." My breath escapes. He releases me. I start gasping.

"I'm just glad we found you," Terra says as Aqua steps beside him.

"How did you find me anyway?"

"Well, unlike you we listened to everything that Merlin had to say. He told us to look for this place called Egypt," Aqua starts.

"We saw some Heartless come into this place, so we figured it would be a good place to start." Terra walks toward Sora. "Glad to see you're all right too Sora." Sora smiles at us.

"Aqua, I need a favor." I turn around to look into her azure eyes.

"Sure Ven, what is it?" I turn back and point to Logan whose eyes are still closed. Aqua's hands shoot up to cover her mouth. "Ven, who's he? What's happened?"

"That's Logan. He was the first person I met when I got here. He's been with me…er…us on this journey. He's from this world." Sora kneels next to his still breathing body.

"We were attacked by some Heartless, and one of them really hurt him. He was really bleeding and then he just passed out. We tried healing him, but it wasn't working. Maybe you can have some more luck?"

"I don't know Ven. I'm not sure what I can…"

"Aqua please? You have to help him." My eyes jump from him to her. "Come on Aqua, just try. I can't think of anything else." This time my eyes don't leave Logan.

"Okay Ven. I'll see what I can do." She smiles as she kneels down across from Sora. I can't see what she's doing, so I go stand over next to Terra who's looking down the other two tunnels.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys when I left." I try to offer an apologetic smile.

"Don't worry about it Ven. All that matters is that we found you. Next time though, can you tell us when you do things like this? You had us so worried." Terra's hand ruffles through my hair. I'm not fond of that, but I guess I'll put up with it…in this case.

"Thanks." I reposition my hair. "So are you going to try and make me come home with you again?" Last time Aqua followed me and Terra everywhere trying to bring me home. I probably should have listened to her given the way that all turned out, but I still don't like them treating me like a kid. I mean I'm twenty-five...sort of, but that doesn't matter.

"No. We came to help you and Sora out too. We were just hoping that we could go together." Aqua doesn't turn to look at me. She's moving her hands over Logan's body, but I still can't tell what she's doing or if it's going to work. Sora hasn't moved from Logan's side, which is understandable.

"Ven is it just me or does he look like…" Terra points to Logan.

"Yes, he does," I interrupt with a wide smile. My first real smile since this all happens covers my face. Turning back, I see Aqua stand and I hold my breath.

"He'll be alright." Aqua walks to me and Terra.

"Really?! That's awesome!" Sora jumps up and runs to us. "But wait, is he going to wake up?" He steps back to Logan.

"He should, but not for a while. But, we can take him with us if you want to keep looking for the Keyhole." Aqua motions down the two tunnels. Sora and I nod.

"I think that's the best idea." Sora walks away from Logan, "But I can't carry him."

"Don't worry about that. I got him." Terra grabs Logan and slings him over his shoulder.

"Terra! He's a person not a log! You need to be careful!"

"Oops, sorry about that." Terra pats Logan's back. Sora and I laugh.

"He'll be okay." Sora manages between laughs. "Come on let's get going!" Sora runs to the right tunnel.

"Sora wait up!" I chase after him.

* * *

End A/N: Please review and let me know if you think I was able to capture Ven's P.o.V. and if you'd like to see more of the other characters PoVs. Thanks!


	12. Dreaming

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story except the character Logan. Disney owns all characters in their movies and Square Enix owns all characters in their games. **

A/N: Whew...Logan's okay, or at least he's going to be. It was a little scary before. Hopefully, he'll wake up soon and we can get working on finding that next Keyhole! I hope you all like it! Please review! Thanks! Oh, and speaking of reviews:

**Tiagodasilvacunha: **I'm glad you liked it! Do you like it better than Logan's?  
**Kingdomheartsevanescencefood : **Just wait! More suspense lies ahead!

* * *

Part XII - Dreaming

Sora's laughter fills my mind, "Maleficent's toast" I can hear both Donald and Goofy's iconic chuckles in the background. Maleficent…like _Sleeping Beauty_? Again blackness consumes what must be my dreams, like on the plane.

As was true with the last set of dreams, one comes right after the last. This time I can see the castle again, the one Sora said was in…Radiant…Gardens, I think. I'm standing below it, but not in those strange waterfalls, but in this valley surrounded by bluish gray cliffs. In front of me is this mass of…Heartless. There's so many of them, and…Sora? That's him in the middle of all of it! There must be hundreds of them, but he doesn't seem to even notice. I have this strange desire to help him, but this has to be another dream, either that or I'm dead, which given the past couple of battles, wouldn't surprise me, but that lovely thought has no time to linger as this dream or vision or whatever ends.

A Keyblade flies passed my face, and the whole dead thing comes back to mind because I'm pretty sure, I should be missing the front of my nose. After a moment of hyperventilation, I can fully see what's going on. We're back in that place with the stained glass platforms, and again Sora's here. He's fighting or more correctly losing to someone in a hooded black coat whose face is shrouded. Sora looks as though he's about to lose his footing when he pushes back and slices at the hooded figure.

"Ven?" My question gathers no attention from either.

"You make a good other." Ven or whoever says moments before this dream vanishes.

A heart-shaped moon with a giant purple mass swirling at the center fills my vision. I look around and find Sora, Riku, Kairi…Mickey Mouse? I should have figured he would be involved somehow. In front of Sora is a faded looking person, it has to be Ven. He have the same face and everything, well minus the clothes.

"Look sharp!" Ven says as his image dissolves. Sora becomes enveloped in a golden light, which dissipates soon after, as does the dream.

My vision remains black this time, but…I gasp and air rushes into my lungs. My breathing is growing more and more rapid, but my vision don't actually come. Is this a dream? Am I really dead? No…I wouldn't be breathing like this. My eyes open, they actually open this time. I'm in the lighthouse chambers, but I'm moving. My legs aren't, but as a whole, I'm moving. I'm being carried…by some person I've never seen before. I rush to "sit" up, but I fall from the shoulder of whoever is carrying me.

"Agh!" I crash into the floor, my hands attempting to shield my head.

"Logan! You're awake!" Before I have a chance to blink, two bodies collide with mine as Ven and Sora jump on top of me. "You had us so worried! We thought you were going to die!" Ven pulls back from this strange group hug thing.

"Thanks Ven…Sora? Can you let go? This…is getting a bit awkward." My eyes move from Ven to the other two people who are in the chamber with us. One has blue hair, but it doesn't look dyed, and she's giggling with her hand over her mouth. The other one is doing worse at containing his laughter. I try to stand, but Sora's still clung to me.

"I can't believe you're alright! After all that I swore you were dead!" Sora lets go, and my lungs function again.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I stand and brush the dust from my hair and clothes.

"I'm just glad Aqua showed up. Without you he probably would've been dead." Ven turns to the woman with the blue hair.

"Don't put yourself down Ven, you two did fine taking care of him." Aqua, or at least I assume that's her name, smiles. She steps closer to me and extends her hand. "Hi, I'm Aqua, and this is Terra," the man who was carrying me smiles as he waves, "We're friends of Ven's and Sora's."

"I'm Logan, but I guess by now you already knew that." I shake Aqua's hand and turn to Terra. "Thanks for…taking me here." I scan the tunnel we're in. I'm not sure how far we've come since that last battle, so he may have brought me a long way.

"Don't worry about it. We're here to help."

"Not to sound rude, but how did you find us? We're kind of in the middle of nowhere." The blank stone still offers no indication of how far we've come or what part of the lighthouse we're in.

"That's okay; Merlin told us where to go, more or less." Aqua's hand flows with her words.

"Yeah, and we found Ven and Sora after we fell through the floor," Terra adds pointing to his right. That must have been the direction we came from. I follow his finger and stare down the darkened hall.

"So do we have a plan then?" I turn back to everyone and Sora's smile drops and every head lowers. "I take it that's a no, then." Sora's the first to give me a sort of half nod. I look to the right into another seemingly empty tunnel. "Shall we?" I wave my hand toward that tunnel. Sora's famous smile returns and he and Ven join me in front of Aqua and Terra further down.

Ven, Sora and Aqua carry the torches, but so far we haven't needed them. The blank walls have continued. This place is very different from the Pyramid. It's seems as though the builders wanted to just get this part done and move on. The way to the Keyhole in the Pyramid was this ornate, clear demonstration of power that made you know that this was something important. Here, nothing, not a thing, just bare walls and the evenly spaced torches. We don't bother lighting the torches along the way anymore, there's not going to be anything to see anyway. As time passes, I come to the realization that we must be descending because there is no way the base of this lighthouse is this long. What the…?

"Hey guys!" I reach my hands out into the darkness and find something. I feel around while I wait for Ven or Sora to get over here. Still nothing obvious, but then again my hands aren't the best things for seeing. Finally, some light.

"What is it, Logan?" Sora's followed behind by Ven.

"I…don't…know…the path just stops here…look." I step out of the way and take Sora's torch. He puts his hands against the wall, and shoves his weight against the wall. I roll my eyes, but let him try it again and again to make the wall move.

"How long are you going to keep trying that?"

"Until…it…argh…moves…" Sora pushes again, but ends up sliding down the wall. "Or…you know…now works." He pants while sitting against the wall.

"Here let me give it a try." I look back as Terra walks forward.

"Terra, I don't think you're going to be able to…"

"I got it, Ven." Terra rubs his hands together before placing them against the wall. Still, like Ven…and I said, it doesn't move, not that I'm surprised. Regardless, we watch Terra fumble and slip just like Sora did without a word. Time wins out, and Terra falls to the ground. We all laugh, Terra and Sora included.

"What was that Terra?"

"Shut up, Ven." Terra throws a small fallen pebble at Ven. We help them up off the ground.

"Anyone else want to try moving the solid wall?" I turn to Ven and Aqua.

"I'm good."

"Me too." Aqua laughs. I take a few more steps toward the wall. Smacking it a few times makes me sure that it won't move. The thing is solid rock.

"Terra, did you say that you two fell through the floor earlier?" I spin to look at him.

"Yeah, why?" His eyebrows scrunch.

"Well, if there's a second floor, maybe we…"

"Can get back up there?" Aqua finishes my sentence. Almost as if on cue, everyone's heads tilt to look at the ceiling.

"I have an idea!" Sora's Keyblade appears in his hand, "But you guys are going to want to…"

"Sora, we have bigger problems!" Four more Keyblades appear as several white creatures materialize behind us.


	13. Fateful Resemblances

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, so you shouldn't think I do.**

A/N: I hope you all liked the last chapter! Logan's back! Hmmm...I think that's about all I have to say, so enjoy! Please review! Thanks!

* * *

Part XIII: Fateful Resemblances

"What are these things?" I leap out of the way as one of the white things kick out toward me. They move with a fluidity that makes them tough to pin down. Not to mention they move with these inhuman movements.

"They're Nobodies!" I glimpse Sora sliding behind one of the "Nobodies." For whatever reason the creatures appear to bind themselves.

"I thought you said Roxas was your Nobody!" My shout doesn't echo through the mass of chaos. These Nobodies can take more of a beating than the Heartless before. They're much better at dodging attacks, too.

"He is, but he's different!" Sora slashes out at another of the Nobodies. "All right, time to end this!" I land from a jump and I see Ven's eyes go wide.

"Sora! No, Sora don't! Sora!" I wonder what Ven's…

"Give me strength!" What the…? My body feels like it's being pulled into something. It's like I'm being stretched from my stomach. The world blurs and in the next instant everything is black again. I have no idea what just happened. I think I'm surrounded by only blackness, but then with a sudden burst of light, these doves fly away. Below me now is the same platform as that time before.

"Logan!" My head jolts up to find Ven standing across the platform. He runs toward me, his shoe steps seem to echo endlessly.

"Ven! What happened? Where are we?" I look around, but everything besides the platform is dark.

"We're inside Sora's heart."

"Really?"

"Trust me; I spent ten years in here." He chuckles a little bit, but I'm still confused.

"How…are…we here then?" Apparently, I still think looking around will get me somewhere.

"Did Sora ever tell you about his 'special' clothes?" Ven smiles, and I nod as he continues, "Well, those clothes allow him to absorb the powers of those closest to him for a little while. So…"

"We're inside Sora." I say it almost like a question, but for some reason, I believe it.

"Yeah."

"How long does this usually last?"

"The last time was about fifteen minutes, but I think it's just whenever he remembers to change back."

"So, we just wait here?"

"Pretty much."

"How often does this happen?"

"Not very, he doesn't usually do this, at least not to us."

"Huh." It's all I can muster. "Hey Ven, can I ask you a…weird…question?"

"Um…sure?" Ven cocks his head, "What's up?" I take a few moments to make sure I know what it is I want to say.

"Did you…ever…fight Sora? Or…vanish inside of him?" His eyes widen and I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm crazy.

"Uh…fight…as in argue? And…I have no idea what you mean by vanish?" Yep, I'm crazy.

"Well…when I was unconscious I had these dreams about Sora, and someone that looked just like you. And I mean exactly like you…hair, face, everything." I motion with real no purpose.

"That makes more sense. You saw Roxas in those dreams, and I'm not sure they were really dreams. What you saw actually happened. Roxas is Sora's Nobody."

"Yeah he's said that, but what does that mean?"

"Sora told us all about it after he rescued us. During his very first adventure, Sora became a Heartless so he could save Kairi. Nobodies form from the body of a person who becomes a Heartless, so that's where Roxas comes in. Most Heartless and Nobodies stay separate forever, but Kairi brought Sora back from being a Heartless, don't ask me how, anyway Roxas stilled existed after Sora returned to normal. Eventually, Sora met Roxas and in the way you saw. So, Roxas was a part of Sora…"

"Wait I thought Roxas was his roommate? Is Sora just a little…"

"Crazy? Maybe, but not in this case, after Sora saved me he found a way to make Roxas and Naminé, Kairi's Nobody, become real people again. He did the same thing with Vanitas, who actually isn't that bad anymore."

"Okay…so…you and Roxas look just like each other…but you…were born more than ten years apart, right?" I'm really confused as to how that happened. Ven nods. "Huh, that's weird."

"Why? You and Sora…" The platform goes totally black and I can feel the stretchiness again. It must all be over. As soon as my vision comes back I know it is. Sora, Terra, and Aqua are standing in front of us and Ven is right next to me. Everything is silent except for their quiet mumbling.

"I hate it when you do that Sora!" Ven stomps his feet as he walks toward Sora. He over exaggerates it so much that it makes me laugh. Still though, it was pretty annoying. Sora offers an apologizing grin.

"It just makes things so much easier." His smile widens. I roll my eyes before starting to chuckle.

"For you maybe! If Ven wasn't there I would've thought I died or some other thing."

"You think that a lot, don't you?" Sora raises an eyebrow to me.

"Not usually, just during this whole thing." I mimic Sora's expression.

"Wow, they really look alike when they do that." I hear Aqua's voice, but nothing sinks in.

"What?" Sora and I turn to look at them. Aqua shields her mouth, but I can still hear her laugh.

"You two look just like each other especially when you stand like that."

"We do not!" The surprise in Sora's face proves that we said that in unison.

"Yeah…I don't see it." I look away from him.

"How can you not?!" Ven and Terra join Aqua's laughter. Sora and I look from each other to them probably four times.

"I still don't see it." We chime.


	14. Shaky Footings

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

A/N: That was an...interesting experience last time wasn't it? What to do while you're in someone else's heart? Anyway, there was a little bit of foreshadowing in that last chapter too, but I'm not going to say anything else about that. Here we go though, almost there (hopefully)! I hope you all like this chapter, and please leave plenty of reviews! Thanks!

**kingdomheartsevanescencefood :** I'm glad you liked it!

**Tiagodasilvacunha: **I know I would! XD

* * *

Part XIV: Shaky Footings

It takes a while longer for Aqua, Terra, and Ven to stop laughing over something I still don't believe, but whatever.

"You guys finished?" Sora and I again are in unison. This is getting really weird, but I shrug it off. Ven nods with the smile resurfacing. Smirking, I turn to Sora, "So what was this idea you had?"

"Oh right. Well, you'll need to cover your faces." I watch the other three's faces drop and they turn away, hands cupping their ears. I mimic. "FIRE!" His words are muffled, but still loud. The entire structure shakes for an instant before becoming still again. I imagine it must be safe now, so I turn back to find slabs of rock scattering the floor and jagged hole in the ceiling. Sora's standing amongst it all. "That worked better than I expected."

"What…were…you expecting?" I walk underneath the hole.

"Oh, you know, the whole roof collapsing, but nothing too bad." He smiles and puts his hands behind his head.

"I'm glad it did then." Aqua gathers with the rest of us underneath the new passage way.

"How do you plan to get up there?" Terra's hand follows the outline of the gap. The next level is about fifteen feet up, and the fallen rocks only get us up about ten of those. I examine every aspect I can, but it still seems like we only have the one option. I step toward the pile of discarded stones.

"I have an idea, but I need one of you to be ready to catch me in case it doesn't work." Terra nods, I hope that means he'll catch me if need be. I step onto the first stone and then scurry my way to the top. And here I thought those rock climbing lessons would never amount to anything. I'm finally glad my parents made me take all those random classes throughout my earlier childhood. Who knew, snowboarding, sparring and rock climbing could all be so useful? I reach the top stone. It wouldn't have been much of a task if the hole wasn't another four feet in front of my and five feet above. I reach out my hand as far as I'm willing. It's still too short. My idea has kinda been trashed, but…well…maybe not. I take out my Keyblade. This might just work. I point the bladed edge at the ceiling's aperture and ram the blade as hard as I can into the remaining stonework. I feel the blade press in a little ways, but I'm not sure how far it actually went. I check one more time to see if Terra is still below me before I transfer my weight little by little over to the Keyblade. It shifts, and I freeze. It stops and my heart beats again. I know Terra's under me, but it's still scary.

"Careful Logan!" Sora shouts after me. I have a comment, but right now all I manage is a nod that he probably didn't even see. With caution, I begin to pull myself up using the Keyblade. Again it moves. A few gasps, including my own, race through the chamber, but it stops and everything is okay. I sigh and continue with my slow ascent. I shimmy over to the side and jump to the second story. Now that I'm here, I let out a long loud sigh, and wait there a second.

"I was worried that wasn't going to work." I lie on the ground, thankful that it did. "Okay, guys, do like I did, and you _should_ be alright." I don't sit up.

"Right!" I hear from Ven, which surprises me since Sora is the first one to make it up here. Ven and Terra follow. Before Aqua makes the climb, I check to make sure my Keyblade is okay. I'm not sure, but I think it's come out a little bit from all of the weight.

"Aqua, wait a second, I need to check something." I jump over the crevice to the other side. Letting my feet dangle over the side, I sit along the opposite edge. With my foot, I shove the Keyblade deeper into the stone. There's a brief cracking sound, but it stops. The others look at me with a flash of worry. "Okay, Aqua, be really careful when you get up here. It should be alright, but…"

"Okay." She leaves my view, so I assume she's climbing the rocks. I step back away from the hole so she can climb without issue. I see her blue hair rise above the rim. She pulls herself up and joins the others. I try pulling my Keyblade out of the stone, but it won't move. Taking a page from Sora and Terra's book, I try again and again, but nothing happens.

"You know you can just summon it back to you, right?" Ven's "question" is masked in a laugh. I mock an "ah-ha" sort of face and do just what he said. The Keyblade returns to my hand. The entire structure quakes with a cacophony of crumbles. I search the hall looking for the source, and I notice that everyone else is doing the same. Ven gasps. "It's the hall. The rocks are falling down. The tunnel's collapsing!" Everyone's movements become more frantic.

"Come on! Over this way!" Sora waves everyone forward as they start to run. Moments before the rock falls, I jump over the opening and chase after the others. We all make it from the hall in time to watch the remainder fall below. It takes the level under us out as well. A pool of water forms underneath us.

"Well, at least we have a way out." Ven smiles, and I chuckle.

"That's one way of looking at it."


	15. Myths and Legends

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, even though I wish I did.**

A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for continuing to read my story, I hope you still like it! I really love this chapter, so I'm just going to let it speak for itself! Hope you like it! Please review! Thanks!

**kingdomheartsevanescencefood & Tiagodasilvacunha:** I bet you're going to love what happens in this chapter, but that's all I'm going to say. Happy reading!

* * *

Part XV: Myths and Legends

I look down this new chamber, but it's pure blackness beyond the first couple of feet. I imagine we must be getting close to somewhere. At least I hope we are. I'm not sure how far we've actually come, but there can't be too much more of this thing. Sora lights one of the torches.

"Hey look more hieroglyphs." Sora moves the flame closer to the wall.

"What are these things?" Terra asks as Ven and Aqua cock their heads in probable confusion. They move along with Sora's light examining each image.

"They're the Egyptians way of writing." Sora answers before I can even open my mouth. I look over at him and his widening smile. He doesn't seem to notice my glare.

"Wow Sora, how did you know that?" Aqua doesn't look away from the little pictures.

"Logan told me." Sora starts to laugh.

"Do you…"

"No. Not to sound rude. Sorry Ven, I didn't mean to interrupt you. It's just been a long day." I feel bad, Ven didn't know.

"Don't worry about it! With the day you've had I'm surprised that's all you've said." He chuckles; I copy a moment later.

"Thanks Ven." He smiles at me, which makes me feel a lot better. "Anyway, no, I have no idea what they say. No one has actually been in here since it was flooded some…seven…teen hundred years ago or more." Their eyes all widen.

"Seventeen hundred years?" Terra repeats with his jaw falling lower and lower.

"Yeah, so your guess is as good as mine when it comes to what's in here." The others all make a grimace.

"What should we do then?" Sora crosses his arms.

"Well, there were no…what did you call them…hyro…" Aqua motions one of us to help her.

"Hieroglyphs." Sora and I assist.

"Right, hieroglyphs, below, so maybe that means we're getting somewhere. I bet if we keep going down these chambers we might find something." Aqua points deep into the darkness.

"Sounds as good an idea as any. Let's go." Terra starts off. With a nod, we all follow.

I wish I could read these hieroglyphs. They probably say something like "Keyhole fifty meters ahead; take a right." That would be just perfect wouldn't it? Spending all this time wandering around some old sunken building, it would just make my day. Still, it's more like some ancient curse that says we're all going to…I've got to stop thinking like that. Everything's going to be fine…okay, maybe too far the other way. Clear my head…come on…relax…oops, I've let them get too far ahead. I jog closer to file in beside Sora.

"Is something wrong, Logan?" While still walking, Sora turns to me. I tilt my head and furrow my eyebrows. "You seemed lost back there…"

"Oh…I just…I don't know. I've been trying to get everything that's happened figured out. You know the dreams, the Keyblade, and all that stuff." Sora stops while I finish. From the corner of my eye I see the others stop and turn.

"Huh…well, is there something you want to talk about?" Sora puts his hand on my shoulder.

"I…don't know." I turn my head down. If I talk about it I'll sound crazy…er, but maybe he can help, not sure with what though.

"Come on; tell me what's been going on." Sora leans up against the wall before sliding down.

"Well, we can at least walk there while we do." I stick out my hand to lift him up. He shrugs and accepts my offer to help. The others return to walking down the tunnel, but Sora and I stay a ways back. It's not that I don't want them to hear us, but Sora has more of a connection to all of this than any of them. "I've been having these weird dreams lately…and it's not when I'm sleeping, not that we've done much of that. It happens at these random times. Like when I passed out."

"The first time or the last time?" Sora chuckles.

"Both." I don't acknowledge his amusement. "They're all of you for some reason, even when I went through this thing with the Keyblade, your picture was there. Everything has revolved around you."

"Aww…I'm touched!" His smile spreads wider.

"Hey Sora…I'm trying to be serious here."

"Sorry. So, what do you think that all means?"

"I don't know…I mean yeah you were the first person I met that had to do with this whole thing, but I don't think it would make me have these dreams, do you?"

"Probably not, but like I said maybe we share a connection."

"But what I'm wondering is what kind of connection. It's not just that we're friends, there must be something more…"

"Merlin said you were born on the Islands with us, maybe something from then…maybe something happened between us."

"But I want to know what or why. Are they trying to tell me something? Am I supposed to do something with them? I just don't know what to do anymore. Nothing seems to make sense."

"Do you think it does to me? I wind up on some planet I've never even heard of, and somehow my friends find me in that World. I just go with it. You can't expect to be able to explain everything."

"I guess you're right. Man, I've got to stop worrying so much!" I smile, to which Sora rolls his eyes before grinning.

"Besides, once we save the World, we can ask Merlin all about you!"

"Never thought I'd have to ask someone else about myself, but…uh…hm…well it'll be a learning experience that's for sure." We both laugh, but the other's seem preoccupied. I look to Sora.

"I wonder what's going on." We jog toward them. When we arrive, I see what it was. This isn't a small tunnel anymore; we've come to an enormous hemisphere-ish chamber. The walls are lined with marble as is the floor, which I can barely see the end of.

"This…is…amazing…"Aqua spins as she looks around the entire expansive room. Ven and Terra stare up at the center of the domed structure.

"It's so different…" Sora's footsteps echo everywhere as do mine right behind him. Sora and I head in different directions, he goes for the wall and I step to the center. It looks like an altar here in the middle, rising about seven feet from the floor. There's a marble statue centered on it. The face is turn away from me, but it still looks familiar. Taking the few stairs up, I find the face of the stature, as well as a plaque. There are…Greek…letters on it? Why? I thought this was an Egyptian building, why were the…

"Logan! What are all these symbols?" Ven says, pointing to a wall beside a branching tunnel. Terra's leaned over at the same wall. I wonder what they're looking at. I see what as soon as I step from the altar. Another small plaque is marked with…Greek characters.

"They're Greek." I stare at the raised bronze letters.

"Wait, I thought you said this was Egyptian." Sora joins us.

"I thought it was, but there are more of them up there…"

"So what does this mean?" Terra doesn't look away.

"It means that…I don't know what it means. It doesn't make sense." I squint for some reason thinking that it would help me to understand the symbols.

"Do you know what they mean?" Aqua's voice comes from far behind.

"Actually, I know some of these. I took a few Greek classes at my school." I love mythology and all those stories, so when my school decided to offer it, I took them. They were cool, and they made for some interesting French-Greek confusions. For some reason nothing really stands out to me…although this one…Αλέξανδρος…that's it! "Alexander the Great!"

"Who?" Sora spins around.

"Alexander the Great, he was this Greek…well…Macedonian leader from more than two thousand years ago. He took over most of this part of the world, including Egypt. That's why all of this stuff is in Greek." To be honest though, I'm not sure what this does for us, but it's kind of cool to know.

"Wait, but what about all the hieroglyphs down below us?" Ven steps from the plaque and looks around the chamber.

"Well, my guess is that that part of the building was kind of like a public worshipping center, kind of like a temple. That's why there're a lot of statues of the gods and goddesses in here. Once you ascend to this level, it was a sort of holy place, so only the priest or priestess would be allowed here. That's why everything is in Greek and why it's so much nicer." Following Ven's lead, I wander some more around the room.

"So…this…was a Holy Place?" Aqua steps to the statue in front of me.

"Yeah, look, Ναός της Θέτις, Temple of Thetis…she was one of the…goddesses of the sea…" I run my hand across the carving in the floor.

"My, my, what have we here?" What was that? A rhythmic tapping fills the temple. It's coming from all around us. Spinning, I try to find where it's really coming from. From the shadows of a branching path steps a…Maleficient? She's carrying the same staff as in _Sleeping Beauty_, and the bird is there too. It's weird seeing her in real life, but why is she here? What does she want? "If it isn't the wretched bunch of Keyblade holders that always step in the way of my plans." I can't tell if she's angry about that because her volume does not change.

"Maleificent…what are you doing here?" Sora's teeth are clinched to the point that he almost growls.

"Terra, I'm so glad that you are well. I was worried that something had happened to you." She seems to ignore the rest of us. She steps toward Terra and runs her green finger along his jaw line. His face scrunches. He tries to pull away, but she holds him there. "What's wrong? That's no way to treat someone who helped you so much."

"Maleificent! Why are you here?!" Sora takes out his Keyblade as do Ven and Aqua.

"Why child, this world is the key to the Realm of Life, all Realms shall fall under my sway!" She raises her arms, and Sora rushes toward her. Green flames engulfing her, she disappears; Sora's Keyblade swiping through air. Multiple portals open around us and these Heartless clad in blue armor with dog head shields drop down, surrounding us. More flames appear behind the altar with Maleificent behind 's no way we will be able to fight all of them off. I can't move too much because the Heartless are closing us in. "Your existance has plagued me along every avenue of my plan, but now I intend to remove the five of you from the equation." She raises her hands again. I have to do something, but what...The eyes of the shields glow red...

"Wait!" My mouth moves on instinct. I'm not sure if this will work...

"How dare you?!" Her eyes widen, making her less-than appealing face even more so.

"Look, you don't know what these things say. Four more of these Wonders will have things like this in them. You can't read them, but I can. I can tell you what you need to know." A long sigh escapes my mouth. I don't see any other choice.

"An interesting proposition." The eyes stop glowing. "Why would you offer such a...service?"

"Let them go, unharmed, and I'll go with you with out a fight."

"What ever makes you believe I would do that?" I supress the chill her laughter caused.

"You need me, and you know it. I'm the only one that can tell you where to look and what to do. So, let them go free or watch your chance die!" I point my Keyblade toward myself.

"Logan! Don't!" I feel Sora tug it away. Not that he has to worry because I really have no intention of dying right now, but Maleficent doesn't need to know that.

"Very well." She raises her arms and most of the Heartless vanish, except for one that grabs me and drags me forward to her. A thin and curved smile spreads across her slender face.

"Logan! No!" Maleficent turns me away, but I catch a glimpse of Sora before a wall of green and black flame separates us. Through it I watch the others join up at the barricade. "Logan!"

"Sora, don't worry about me, just remember to always hunt after the light!" The Heartless pulls me away into one of the darkened chambers; Sora and the others slip away from my sight.

* * *

A/N: If anyone wants to see what my inspiration was for the Temple chamber, please either message me or review asking for it and I'll send you the link! Hope you liked the chapter!


	16. Hunt for the Light

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the related material.**

A/N: I can't believe what just happened! Logan's gone! How are they going to get to the other artifacts? Why is Maleficent here? What's going to happen to everyone? Well, you're just going to have to keep on reading (and reviewing)! I hope you all continue to enjoy this story, and I hope I can make it to your liking for the rest. Well, I guess that's it, so enjoy and please, please, please review! Thanks!

**Starchasersemerald: You don't have to wait too long :)**

**Kingdomheartsevanescencefood : Thank you! I hope this chapter is just as exciting!**

**Megzarie: I can't say a word about that…yet :)**

Part XVI: Hunt for the Light

I can't believe what just happened. Logan's gone...he's helping Maleficent...but...he did it to save us...I wonder if he has a plan...what was that last thing he said to me? "Hunt for the light?" What does he...

"Sora! Come on...pay attention! Something's happening..." I don't turn from the hall that she had taken him down, but Ven's words do sink in. Okay...come on...alright, I rush over to the others who all have their Keyblades drawn. This whole place is shaking. Not like an earthquake or at least I don't think so, we don't have earthquakes on the Islands. It feels more like when Monstro was about to sneeze.

"Hello there my dears." A new anger burns in my stomach. That sea witch is here...she never seems to die!

"Why are you here Ursula? Ariel finally wise up to your tricks?" I'm happy that her smile goes away.

"You ungrateful fool!" I roll away from a flying tentacle. Aqua, Terra and Ven scramble to move away.

"I thought Maleficent said we would be free?!" Ursula's tentacles writhe at Ven's block. I need to get after her. I need to find Logan; I can't just let Maleficent use him.

"She may have agreed to let you go, but no one guaranteed your safety." Her laugh is even more annoying than usual. You know what that's it, I'm tired of this overfilled octopus. While Ven, Terra and Aqua have her distracted, I run behind her.

"Sora! Look out!" Spinning around, I turn into one of her swinging tentacles. My body unwillingly flies to the wall. That stupid fish! I rush to my feet and spring after her. Those eight arms keep us all jumping around, but I can't land a solid hit. Not to mention that she keeps using thunder on us, so we don't get a moment to rest. We can't keep going like this; we need to get out of here.

"Aqua, Terra!" What's going on? What are they doing? I skid to a stop. I don't want to get in their way. They jump above her, drawing her eyes up. The three of them slash down in different directions. As they land, the witch wails. Finally, she's done, and with only a wisp of smoke. They're breathing is heavy, but they did it, that's all that matters. Now, we can figure out what's going on.

"You guys did it!" I run up to them. Ven smiles at me, which makes me feel better about everything. "You guys okay?" Aqua and Terra stand up and breathe easier.

"Yeah, we're fine."

"Okay,so what are we going to do? We can't just let Maleficent take Logan like that." Where did they go? What's he going to tell her? Is he actuall...

"Sora, don't worry, we'll think of something." Aqua's words don't calm me.

"How can you say don't worry?! Not only is Logan the only one who can tell us where to go, but he's our friend, we can't just let him do this! We have to rescue him!"

"And, Maleficent can get to all of the Wonders too." I point to Ven.

"See?! How much worse can this get?" I fall to the ground, which was not the best idea, but I don't care anymore.

"Let's just out of here first, okay?" I take Terra's stretched hand and stand up.

"Fine, but then we think of a way to get Logan back." The others nod at my demand. I take another look around the room. It's weird, even after the mess Ursula caused; the center statue is still intact, except her hands. They're gone. I wonder if they're anywhere around here. I mean we destroyed this probably priceless Wonder. I guess I can at least look for her hands. They must be around here somewhere.

"Sora? What are you doing?" My head's under a table when Ven asks.

"This is the only statue that's left, so I thought we could try and find the hands for it, but I don't see them anywhere." The altar is empty, save for a few shards. Man, I was hoping to find something to make it somewhat worth it, but I guess not.

"Here Sora, I found them over by one of the walls. They were just sitting there." Terra sets the white objects in my hands. I wonder how they got over there? Moving back, I put the hands on the small bar that holds them to the statue. The entire thing is suddenly covered in light and there's this wind coming from it. Gah...I cover my eyes. I'm not sure what's going on... The wind stops, so I open my eyes. The statue is...gone, all that's left is a tiny glass dot in the floor. What? How? I tap it with my foot...I jump back from a new light that shoots out from the glass. It goes all the way into the ceiling. I forgot...the Keyhole...it must have been in here all along. That's why the hands were so far away, they were the key for us. It's weird how close we were...

"Huh...I almost forgot about that." I look back to the others. With Keyblades in hand, the four of us...only four...seal the Keyhole.

"So now what?" I step down from the altar as Terra lowers his Keyblade.

"We need to follow Maleficent, she's got to be going after the Keyholes... but what about...this one?" It doesn't make sense, why would she just leave us here with the Keyhole...there must have been something else that she was looking for...ack...why must these things always be so complicated...

"Did Logan say anything to you about where you were going to go next?" I sit against one of the walls as Aqua walks toward me.

"No...he seemed to have...everything planned out. I'd come to rely on that...I guess...guys we need to find them." I look into each of their eyes.

"Don't worry about it Sora, we'll find him and Maleficent. We'll stop her."

"Yeah...thanks Ven!" I leap up from my spot.

"What was that last thing he said to you?" Terra crosses his arms.

"He said...'Remember to Hunt for the Light.'"

"What do you think that means?"

"I don't think any of us do, Aqua. I've only known Logan for a little longer than you, and he never seemed like much of a riddle person." A riddle? Could it...I'd never thought of it like that...

"Ven, why do you think it's a riddle..."

"Well, the way he said it...he said to remember...it was like he had told you that before...and that he meant something by it."

"And with Maleficent right there, he would never want to tell her something that could be easily figured out. Maybe he was telling us where they were going?" Maybe he was. Terra has a good idea, but then what could he mean by that...What was the clue he was trying to give us? Hunt...for...the Light...could it...

"Hey guys, I have an idea! I need to check something, but we need to get out of here first." They all give me some confused look. "You're just going to have to trust me on this. Come on!" Ven's the first to follow me on the way out of the Chamber. Terra and Aqua aren't far behind us.


	17. A Sea of Questions

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Kingdom Hearts nor Disney and probably never will.**

A/N: So who has a guess about what Sora's plan is going to be? Or what's going to happen to Logan? I can't tell you right now, but keep reading and soon it will be all revealed. I hope you like this chapter and all the others! Thanks! Please review!

**kingdomheartsevanescencefood ****: You don't have to wait too long! :D**

* * *

Part XVII: A Sea of Questions

With sharp breaths, I can finally breathe. That swim seems much longer without air...Ven, Terra and Aqua pop up from the water. I swim over to them.

"You guys okay?"

"Yep...just...need...to breathe...is all..." Ven gasps every couple of words. Aqua and Terra nod.

"Sora, what...was it you...wanted to see?"

"Come on, I'll show you. We have to get back to shore." Starting off, I can hear the others as they follow behind. I need to find that shack where Logan got all of that breathing equipment. The guy there said he would hold our bags for us. I just hope that I can work Logan's computer after all this. This is great, the guy who took us out is there, and I can see our bags against the back wall. "Okay guys, here we go." With bags in hand I walk back to them. Right away, I find his phone, which looks just like that iPod he gave me back on the plane. I just hope it works the same way. I poke the internet thing and look for that website he told me about that very first day...what was it...goo...goggle?...google? I think that's it...yep it works. Okay...seven wonders of the...of the ancient world that must be it. Okay...statue...mausel...lighthous... "I've got it!"

"Got what?" I don't care if they were just in unison, I still figured it out!

"The riddle, look it's the Temple of Artemis." The phone has a picture of the temple on it.

"Why is this the answer? I thought you said there were seven different wonders, why is this one important?"

"Terra! You don't get it?"

"No...should I?"

"Oh...right, sorry...anyway, Logan said 'Hunt for the Light'...well Logan told me some of the myths and stuff from around here. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and the twin of Apollo, the god of the sun, so Hunt and Light. That has to be what he was talking about!" I can't believe I figured it out! I usually never get these things, that's more of Riku's thing, but not today! I figured it out!

"So where is this temple?" Aqua turns the phone to her.

"I don't know...I kinda got distracted by the whole riddle thing." I hope my smile makes up for that...it usually works on Kairi.

"Can you find out?" It probably didn't work on him, given that he just rolled his eyes. Pulling the phone back from Aqua and Terra, I nod and look for something about where this thing is. Let's see...

"A town called...Ephesus...in Turkey..." I've found something about it on a thing called Wikipedia.

"And that means what?" Terra crosses his arms.

"I...don't...know?" Maybe the smile will work this time. Guess not. I look back down to the phone; maybe I can find a map...back to google...hey look maps! It says it right on the top! Okay...Ephesus...Turkey...and look Alexandria's right here. "I think I got it." I hope the screen is big enough for everyone to see. "We're here...at Alexandria...Ephesus is right here."

"How will we know when we get there though? It looks like a lot of water between us and it." Ven has a point...but if I remember right...I think there was something about...yep. Here it is. "This says there is a column that marks where the Temple used to be..."

"Wait...used to be? So if it's gone where are Logan and Maleficent going?" Terra's question is one I can't find an answer to...so I guess we're back to the start.

"Maybe it's like it was here...maybe there was a Holy place that was kept hidden from the rest of the world...a place that might have survived."

"Great idea Aqua! Come on, let's go! Here Ven take this...it's all of Logan's stuff." He catches the blue bag with a nod. All at once the four of us toss our Keyblades in the air and they return as our gliders.

"So you finally gave it a try, Sora?" I scowl at Terra's laugh, but for some reason it turns into a smile. I can never even seem to fake being mad at these guys for some reason. With that we start off toward this Ephesus...I just hope this is the right place. Man if only we had an actual map, it would make things so much easier.

We've been over the water now for what must have been three hours...it seems endless over this water.

":Hey Ven?"

"Yeah?" He slides in closer to me.

"Did you tell Kairi what happened...you know...so she knows I didn't just leave...without telling her?"

"She was there when Merlin told us. Don't worry, she's not upset, she told me to make sure I keep you out of trouble." His smile makes me feel better. I've missed her so much...we'd just got back after our last adventure before Donald, Goofy and I went to go talk to Master Yen Sid. That was when everything happened, I was supposed to take her to dinner that night...I'm glad she's not mad. She never seems to get mad though. I'll try to make it up to her once I get home.

"I think you failed at that." We laugh, which must be a good sign.

"I guess I did, but you get to tell her that!" I laugh so hard I almost fall off my glider, almost. Something else though is starting to get through in my mind.

"Hey Ven?"

"Yeah?" His eyes look worried. He must know that something's up.

"Do you think we'll find him?"

"Of course!"

"No Ven, I mean really. I don't want the optimistic everything's going to be fine answer. Trust me, I already tried to convince myself of that, and I'm the optimistic one!" Usually I can find the silver-lining on everything...like when our Island was consumed by darkness, I made some of the best friends ever. When I lost my memory...I got to meet Namine...the whole Organization XIII thing, I got a Roxas out of it...and diving into my Dreams...

"I don't know. I want to say yes...but he was our Key too..."

"Do you think Maleficent will get to him? Like she did with Riku?" I can't let that happen. I can't just let my friend be used by that witch...

"No. And I'm not just being optimistic this time. From what you told me, that first time, Riku gave himself over to the darkness...and neither of you knew what Maleficent was like or her intentions, but Logan does...he knows that Maleficent is searching for something. He's not just going to give in to her. He did it to save us...he'll never lose his light."

"I hope not...there's something special about him...I don't know what it is...but I feel this connection to him...and more than that usual one between the friends I make on these adventures..."

"Sora, I think that the two of you do share a very deep connection. When you went into your little drive form back there, he told me about these dreams he had had. They were about you and Roxas...did you tell him about what happened?'

"Not really. I mentioned it, but he never really asked about it...he said he's been having these dreams lately...and they were all about what's happened in the past...they're all about things that he wouldn't, shouldn't know about. I always said that maybe we shared a connection from our past, but not even you and I had that...and your heart was a part of mine for most of the things he's had dreams of."

"Not to mention the fact that you two look alike."

"You all keep saying that, but..."

"Come on Sora, the two of you share a face for goodness sake. If I didn't know any better I would say you were twins. You're both the same height; the same age...you were both born on the Islands..."

"So? That doesn't mean anything. My parents never mentioned anything about a brother, and besides, you and Roxas look identical and more so than any twin's I've ever seen."

"Exactly, so maybe there were some special circumstances like there were for Roxas and me."

"I guess..."

"Sora! Ven! Is everything alright?" My head jolts up at the sound of Aqua's voice.

"Huh? Oh yeah...everything's fine!" I didn't notice that we're over land now. We must be getting close to where we need to be. The city was near the coast. "Let's get lower that way we can see the column."

"Is there anything special about this column? Or are we supposed to go check every building in the city?" I have a sarcastic answer for Terra, but I guess this probably isn't the time.

"In the picture it looked like a single column standing in a grassy field..."

"Like that?" Ven bolts ahead of us while pointing at something...a single column, surrounded by grass.

"That's it! Come on!" I make my glider speed ahead of everyone else. Jumping down, I land with a somersault next to the column. Ven and the others land beside me, well sort of. Terra kind of crashes down, but he stayed on his feet, so I guess that's good.

"Is this all that's left?" I follow Aqua up to the mismatched column.

"Look, this column's all mismatched...I wonder why..." Ven's finger follows along the column.

"That doesn't make much sense...why would they..."

"Hey guys look at this..." Terra motions toward a plaque along the base. Not sure how we managed to miss that before. "This column marks the sit of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World."

"So this is...just a monument then." Aqua walks back to it, "that means that the Keyhole must be somewhere around here..."

"And if we find the Keyhole, we find Logan!" I start looking for any clue to where it would be. .

"And Maleficent." Way to kill the mood Aqua...I guess she's right though...if we find Logan, Maleficent won't be far away. Maybe though...with Logan...we...could...hey what's this? There's a pit here, actually there's a couple of them. That's weird, they look like perfect rectangles. I don't think they're natural, but...ow! Stupid rock, gahh...I just stubbed my foot on the stup...

"Guys come look at this!"


	18. Into the Depths

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

A/N: Let's hope Sora's right! Otherwise Logan's going to be used by Maleficent and who knows what'll happen then?! Well, I'm not going to hold you up much longer, so enjoy! Please review! Thanks!

* * *

Part XVIII - Into the Depths

What is this thing? Crouching gets me a better view. It's a stone raised from the others around it...but there's a lot of dirt still covering it. With my Keyblade I try to chisel off some of it. I hear the others approach from behind me as I chip it away. The longer I go, the more of this stone slab I find. After a few more strikes I know we've found the right place because just like at the Lighthouse, there is a Keyhole carved in the ground. This is it, we're going to get Logan back.

"This is it guys!" I sweep away the last bits of dust.

"Do you think this is the way in?" I brush the dirt of my knees as I stand.

"Only one way to find out." I take my Keyblade and line it up with the hole. Yes! Just like it's supposed to a light appears at the tip of my blade and unlocks this keyhole. A new line outlines this square piece of rock around the hole. I jump off just as it disappears. This has to be it, there's a set of spiral stairs dropping below. When I look back, everyone nods, but not with smiles, just these emotionless, blank faces. I nod back and I take my first step down in this hidden temple. Once everyone is inside, the top closes again, and we're in total blackness.

That doesn't last for long because these little orbs of white light started following us down the stairs. I don't know what they are, but none of us ask.

"How far down do these stairs go?" We've been walking for about five minutes.

"We must be at least a hundred feet under the ground." Ven's voice echos.

"It's gotten really cold, too." I turn to see Aqua rubbing her arms. I've noticed it too, the further we go down the colder it's gotten. I hope we don't have to go too much further.

"I wonder what these little things are? They've been following us."I watch Terra reach out his hand to one of them, but it backs away, almost like it's alive.

"They must have been something the builders put in here, but I wonder what they were originally used for." Aqua says as we start back walking. We pass around the stairs on last time when everything levels out. We must be in the temple now, the real temple.

"So now where do we go from here? I can't see much of anything." Before I finish those orbs fly ahead of us. "What...the..." They zip off down what must be another hallway. "Guys, they might be leading us! Come on!" Without waiting for an answer I run after them.

"Sora, wait! We don't know what's..." Aqua's voice fades as I keep after the light. Maybe I should have listened to her...but this is my only chance to save Logan. He's somewhere down here with that witch, and whatever she's looking for must be down here too. I look back.

"Ven? You decided to follow me?" I stop for only a moment.

"I wasn't going to let you do this alone. I want to find Logan too." He and I continue running after the little things.

"Guys, wait up!" We come skidding to a stop as Terra yells.

"Hurry up, we don't want to lose them. This could be our only chance."

"That's why we came after you. Come on, let's go." We keep going through winding paths that have me so confused. It doesn't matter, I just need to keep following these things.

"Look out!" Ven's tug pulls me back.

"Whoa...thanks Ven! That would've been really bad." That pit he just saved me from looks really deep. The light doesn't reach the bottom.

"Look..." What is Terra pointing...across the hole the lights are waiting. It's like they know we can't get across.

"There must be a way over there."

"But what? We can't just..." Ven jumps back after one step, but the stone he stepped on drops into the floor. What's going on...this can't be...what is that crumbling noise? Spinning around, I look for the source.

"There..." I point to the side walls which now have stones that are moving in and out, and they're doing it pretty fast too.

"That must be our way out."

"You're probably right Aqua, but how are we supposed to figure that out?" I keep staring at the moving stones.

"It's all random. See the middle ones all come out at different times..." I wonder what Ven's looking at. I can't seem to...

"Guys watch! There's a pattern...the ones on the right move first and then the ones on the left..." I point to them.

"And every third time it goes in order, watch...see...1...2...3...4...and now the last one. And see the left does it too." She's right...that means if we wait for it we could get across, maybe.

"Alright here we go then. We have two more before the pattern starts again. Once we see it go on the right we can go on the left. Come on!"Ven steps over to the left wall. One more passes, and we join him.

"There's the right...here we go." I get ready to jump.

"1..." Aqua's doing the counting, "2...3...4...5...we did it!"

"Oh come on! No break?!" I follow the others chasing after the floating lights. This time though, I'm ready when they stop. I should've known. We haven't seen a single Heartless or Nobody since we got in here, and now we've got both! "What are they doing?" I realize that might be a stupid question, but it's just weird...

"It's like they're fighting each other..."

"But...why?" We watch them fight, but it's like they don't notice us. Are they more interested in...and who are the Nobodies following...Organization XIII is...

"Sora, come on! We can get around this way!" With a sweeping motion, Ven catches my attention, and I follow them along the outside wall, but we never take our eyes off them...

"Wow...look...at this..."


	19. Ancient Wonders

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or elements in this story beyond Logan.**

A/N: Whew! That was close; no telling what would have happened if those Nobodies got sight of the gang. I hope we get to find Logan soon! All this waiting is starting to get to me! :D Not really since I know what's happening. Still, I hope you've all liked this "Hunt for the Light" bit that we've had for a while now. Welp, I guess that's it, so please enjoy and review! Thanks!

* * *

Part XIX: Ancient Wonders

"Wow...it's more amazing than in the lighthouse..." Aqua's whisper echoes almost into a yell. This must be the right place, but why aren't the Nobodies and Heartless coming in here? Something must be going on...and where's Logan, they must be nearby. I take a few more steps into this room. This one has dome too...but it just seems more beautiful here. I'm not sure why. There are statues lining the outer ring of the dome, but they seem more like people than the ones in the lighthouse. Their faces look like they are sleeping, but they are all in these weird positions almost like they're being twisted. Still, they are somehow beautiful.

"Listen!" Terra's command makes everyone quiet. I look around trying to latch on to what he was talking about. There it was...it sounds like tapping. It's very steady like a person's footsteps. Who..whatever it is, isn't speaking or making any other sound, and it's getting quieter.

"It sounds like it's coming from..." I turn to look at Ven. "From over that way..." He points down a hall on the other side from where we came in. That must be where Logan and Maleficent are. Whatever it is she is looking for must be in there.

"I bet Maleficent is in there." I tell everyone my thoughts.

"She must be. It would explain the Heartless." Aqua nods as she, Terra and Ven take out their Keyblades.I take mine and listen one last time for that tapping. Okay, they're still there.

"Let's go." I open my eyes and run into the tunnel. This is it, we'll get Logan back. The tunnel ends with a small domed room and at the back is... "Logan!" He turns around and his eyes brighten and he smiles before running toward us.

"You figured it out!" He skids to a stop just in front of me and Ven while Terra and Aqua catch up. I can't believe it we found him...we really found him!

"We did and we found you!"

"My, my...I should have known that the little brats wouldn't be far behind. And I should have known better than to trust a wielder of the Keyblade. Still, I have the artifact and that is all that matters. You were of great help to me Logan and I could have used you in my plans, but never fear the artifacts will all be mine!"

"Artif..."

"Sora we have to stop her!" Logan turns back around with his Keyblade in his hand. "Come on we can't let her get away with that artifact." I don't know what he's talking about, but he's right we can't let her get away. The five of us chase after Maleficent. A smile, her smile, spreads across her face and she disappears into green flame, like she always does, that coward. "She's got another one..."

"Another what?" Aqua puts her Key away as she comes closer.

"An artifact." Logan opened his mouth, but it wasn't he who answered. It was some other voice, a much deeper and more familiar voice...but how...I swore he was dead...there's no way...

"Xehanort?! But...but how? That's not possible..." Terra looks like his jaw is about to fall off.

"Terra my boy, nothing in this world flows as it does in ours. Here the very rules of what we know as reality are rewritten. All life begins and ends in this world, yours, mine, theirs, every life passes by here twice." His voice still makes me cringe, that awful old man.

"So..." I think Ven must be as confused as me.

"Ventus, it means that I am on my second time passed. Were it not for your efforts I would never have had this chance. So, I suppose I owe you my gratitude. Anyway to answer your question, Maleficent is searching for the six keys or artifacts that lie in this world. Each one lies in one of the so called Seven Wonders..."

"Wait, but you said six keys?" Ven, like me, never lowers his Keyblade.

"Indeed I did young Ventus. The six Keys open the door to the only true Wonder, the Gardens of Babylon."

"But wait...what about the other ones? What about the Keyholes?" None of what he's saying makes sense, why did Merlin have us.

"All figments, nothing more than copies built as locks to the true Keyhole for the Realm of Life."

"Why should we believe you?" I don't look at Terra, but he sounds angry.

"Have I ever proven to be dishonest? When you searched for the source of the Unversed, I showed you Vanitas. When the Final Keyhole waited to be opened, I told you of the Seven Princesses of Heart. When it was of Organization XIII, I told you of Kingdom Hearts so they might have been made whole, and when it came to dreams, I told you..."

"So what if we do believe you, why would Maleficent want to get to these Gardens?" Aqua sounds like she's going to spit on him.

"For the same reason I am allowing her to retrieve them." From the corner of my eye I see Terra run toward the old man.

"Terra! Wait!" Ven yells, but I doubt anything will...just then Terra's strike is blocked by something, but I can't see what. Terra flies backward,

"Terra!" We rush to him. Ven and Logan stand in front of him protecting him from Xehanort.

"I'm sorry, but now is not the time for our fated clash. I bid thee farwell." A portal of darkness appears behind him and he vanishes.

"What was he talking about? Why is this Realm of Life so important?" Terra stands back up.

"Chaos." Logan turns back to us, but he doesn't say anything else.

"Chaos? What is..."

"Chaos is what Maleficent is trying to unleash. It is the way of saying she is trying to start the Day of Destruction."

"How can you be sure?" Aqua's right, Logan's never said anything like this before.

"It was one of the inscriptions she had me she found this old paper that told about it. It said something like 'In sleep wait six keys of power great, to unlock the door, forevermore, to the gate of Life.'"


	20. On the Verge of Chaos

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney**

A/N: Logan's okay! But what about Xehanort? Was he actually telling the truth? Is he actually back, AGAIN?! I guess we're just going to have to wait and find out… Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter and the rest of the story! Please review! Thanks!

* * *

Part XX: On the Verge of Chaos

"What does that even mean?" I look at Logan who seems to know a lot about this subject.

"It means, or she said it meant that if you could unlock that final Keyhole, the one in Babylon, you would unleash the Chaos of the Realm of Life, bringing about the Apocalypse." I can't tell if that's worry or sadness on his face.

"Why would Maleficent want to destroy the world?" Aqua looks over at him.

"I don't know, she wouldn't tell me." Now, Logan obviously looks frustrated.

"So what are we going to do? If the Keyholes don't matter…" Ven puts his hand to his chin. Do the Keyholes matter anymore? Xehanort said that they were copies or something like that.

"But then why are they here if they don't matter?" We all step closer as Logan finishes. "There must be a reason…"

"Maybe it's to confuse people." Terra's brows bow downward. "If you make more Keyholes, it takes longer to find all of them, plus it gets people looking for the wrong thing, like we were." I think Terra just figured everything out…wow. He's never really been one for figuring something out. He's more of an act first kinda guy.

"I think you're right Terra!" Ven smiles, "So that means that we need to find the artifacts that Maleficent hasn't found that way we can seal the final Keyhole, right?"

"But which artifacts does she already have?" I sit on the floor.

"Just the three." Logan plops down beside me, "She followed the same path we did. The only reason she came here next was because I told to. Speaking of, I'm so happy you figured out my 'riddle.'"

"Ven figured out that it was a riddle, but Sora was the one to solve it." Aqua sits in a much more "lady-like" fashion.

"I remembered that you told me about Artemis and Apollo on that very first day, and when I saw that Artemis had something on the list, I knew that was the answer. How did you come up with that anyway?"

"It almost didn't work. I had to really work to convince that witch to come here instead of Rhodes. She said that she did not wish to deviate from her present course or something like that. I had to make up something about the temple before she would finally come."

"So we're pretty lucky that it did work then." Aqua smiles.

"You would have found me eventually…I hope, but this just made it faster. That woman is such a…well…something not so nice, I guess is the best way to put it." I start to laugh at Logan's…delicate way of getting his point across.

"What's our plan then?" Ven finishes laughing along.

"My guess is that she'll go to Rhodes next, since that is where she was going to go the first time around." Logan looks to Ven, "Hey Ven, is that my backpack?" Ven nods before handing it back to Logan. I probably should have told him that by now, whoops. Logan pulls out his phone and starts tapping away. "Okay, so here is the map of the Wonders. We're here at Artemis' temple. Now Rhodes is almost directly south of us…here," Logan points to the map.

"So that means that she probably is there right now getting the artifact…" Terra's tone drops.

"Actually, no, if those other Wonders are like this one, there is a puzzle before you can get to where the artifact is. This last one was kinda weird. We were some way or another transported to this weird place and we had to navigate this moving puzzle."

"Then if she has to complete a puzzle every time, we might have a chance to catch up to her and get the artifacts before her, right?" Aqua taps her finger with every point she makes.

"That's my thinking anyway."

"Well let's go then! The longer we wait, the closer she is to finding that artifact." I jump up.

"So what are these artifacts?" Everyone else stands.

"Well, I only saw this one, so I can't be positive, but this one was a statue about a foot tall. It was made of green crystal." Logan makes a box with his hands.

"Alright…wait what about the Keyhole?" Ven stops as we enter the chamber we were in before.

"Do you think we should still find it and seal it?" Terra turns back to us.

"We don't have time. We have to get to Maleficent." I start pushing Ven to the exit.

"But, it we seal the Keyhole, then we might be able to stop something like this from happening again." I stop at Aqua's comment.

"There won't be an again if we don't stop them now." Logan stops at the exit, "We have to get to Rhodes and stop Maleficent. Once we have all the artifacts, we can come back and seal it. But we need to hurry. If she gets all of those artifacts, these Keyholes won't mean a thing." I'm not sure if Logan even sees the nods as he walks away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there…you weren't just going to leave without a goodbye were ya?" Another voice I know well…Hades…why do these people never leave me alone!

"Hades…what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be trying to find someone to fight Hercules for you?" My words form into a snarl.

"Hades? Greek Hades?" What is Logan talking about? "And do you mean Heracles?"

"The one and only. Hey, how do you know about that and about his real name?" Logan looks super confused.

"What's he talking about Sora?" Terra leans in toward me.

" the King of the Underworld, brother of Zeus and captor of Persephone, and Heracles…from Hera Queen of the gods and your sister, but…that's not…you don't…look like…" What?!

"Let me make this easier for you." Hades becomes absorbed in a brief flash of blue flame. "If you know all of that, you must know me more as this." Instead of the blue skinned Hades I knew, there is this almost human looking thing, but he has this beard and golden eyes.

"How…is this…" Logan keeps staring as Hades transforms back into his better known, at least by me, appearance.

"Possible? Well I'm glad you asked. Unlike all those other Disney wannabees, we were here first. We…*cough* they lived all high and mighty up on Olympus, while I was down in that Underworld with only Charon to talk to, and do you know what it was like? Nothing! Because Charon never talked! Any anyway…Zeus in all his big headed glory allowed you humans to get too close to Olympus. One day, I got this official looking memo from the Big Man saying we were leaving. So I packed up and moved, but guess what I got when I got there? ANOTHER UNDERWORLD! Anyway, I digress…" As soon as Hades snaps his fingers I know we're in for some trouble.


	21. Heated Escape

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney or any of the characters.**

A/N: What's going on? Why is Hades here?! What about everything else? Well, you'll just have to keep reading! Speaking of, I hope you all still like this story! I'd love to hear your feedback in reviews or PMs! Thanks!

* * *

Part XXI: Heated Escape

I'm really getting tired of these things." Logan jumps away from some of the Heartless. I agree with him they're a pain in the butt! Something seems off though, Hades is just standing around, and that can't be good. Whatever, we'll deal with that later. Right now we have to deal with these pathetic Heartless. It's gotten a little sad; I don't even start to sweat anymore against these Knight Heartless. Some part of me wishes that Hades would put us up against something more challenging, but actually now that…finally! They're gone! See? Even Logan doesn't look tired and he's new at this! Still…

"Bravo…I gotta hand it to ya. I didn't think you were going to do it. I mean those small fry are tough little bugs." Why is Hades clapping? Something's going on…

"Terra wait!" Aqua tries to grab him, but he's too far. Hades is gone before he gets there.

"Where'd he go?!"

"Feel the heat!" Where'd that…

"Get down!" I'm thrown to the ground as a huge fireball flies over my head.

"Thanks Logan." We scramble to our feet. Every step we take has to avoid more fire as Hades continues to pummel us. None of us can seem to get close to him. We keep having to dodge his…ack…fireballs! Aqua's the only one who's blocking anything, but that doesn't do much to help us. Explosions ring out all around us, but these doesn't seem to be much damage. Still those flames are **hot**, and a bunch have come too close to my face.

"Guys follow my lead!" Ven's Keyblade zips toward Hades. I do what he tells me to and fling my Keyblade toward the fire-headed pain. The other three mimic and all five Keyblades are flying to strike Hades.

"This…can't…be…happening!" All five Keyblades fly back.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here!" Logan races out passed where Hades was standing. Speaking of, Hades' eyes look out of focus and dazed, so I think Logan's right, running is our best bet. I chase after Logan with the others in tow. All the Heartless and Nobodies are gone when we get back, so we keep running. I have no clue how close Hades is to waking back up. He's a god back in our world, so I bet he won't die that easily.

"Remember to watch for the pattern up ahead!" I hear Ven's voice from a couple of feet behind. Crap…I don't remember what that was…something about every three cycles…and oh, I got it. It was every three cycles and the right goes before the left.

"Remember that we're looking at it backwards now too." I'm glad Aqua reminded us about that. That would've thrown me off. Okay, here we go…left first…and now right….

"Here it goes!" Logan's the first one across and Terra's foot leaves the last one just as soon as it closes. He makes it, but not without a funny fall.

"Now we just have to make it up the…" A huge crash goes off behind us. I can feel the heat against my back.

"Thought you'd get away huh? Well, not today!" Hades launches another fireball at us. Logan and I motion for everyone to run. The stairs aren't far, but Hades is keeping the heat up on us. Every few feet the entire building shakes as his fire smashes into the walls. We've made it to the stairs. I'm not sure where Hades is. The explosions have died down a bit.

"Come on! We've got to get up these stairs before Hades gets here!" Logan races up the steps. I'm almost sure he's going to trip. That's not that important. Hades must be close and his fireballs are getting closer. Aqua and Terra are in the back with Ven and I behind Logan. Wait…why is he stopping? We need to…oh right the door closed after we got in. Hurry up…Logan…we don't have much…he got it! Alright let's go! Hades must be right behind us by now.

The sun's gone down already?! Doesn't matter. Our Keyblades fly into the air, and we hop on as they glide back to us. Crap…crap…down…go down…okay, the sky dims again as Hades' last fireball flings passed us. Man that was close. I slouch on my glider in relief. We made it out of there without Hothead getting us. Plus we got Logan away from Maleficent, so other than a few singed hairs, I'd say mission accomplished!

"Whew…just made it out of that one!" I try to break the silence we've had since we got out of the temple.

"Yeah…that was waaaayyy too close for me." Ven starts laughing.

"At least we got Logan back!" Ven's laughter spreads to me.

"Yeah, thanks for taking your time on that." What?! We came as soon as… "Kidding." He must have seen my stunned expression. "Thank you guys in all honesty. I don't what I would do without you."

"Hard to believe you made it this far with just them. This bunch can be a little unreliable." Wait…I know that voice…it's coming from above us.

"Vanitas? I thought you said you weren't going to help us." I hear Aqua from in back of me, but I can't find where he's at.

"I wasn't, but Naminé talked me into it." There he is, but why is he wearing that old body suit? I thought he gave up on that thing.

"Why didn't she ask Roxas?" Van pulls off his helmet as Ven finishes.

"Something about an important date and he'll come later. I stopped listening after awhile, but Sora knows how…persuasive she can be." Yeah…she has this look and the way she…never mind.

"Well we could use your help." I can't tell if Terra's upset or not. He wasn't as forgiving as Aqua and Ven were after that whole thing eleven years ago.

"Good thing 'cause I'm here. Who's that?" He points over to Logan.

"_That_ is named Logan," Logan says without looking back at us.

"Wow…what crawled up him?" Van rolls his eyes.

"Hey Van, he's been through a lot lately. Maleficent used him to get some artifact that she needed. Plus he's new to this whole Keyblade thing, and we're all tired, so give him a little time to warm up." Ven smiles and laughs while he explains. Now that he mentions it…I am really…ti..red, sorry had to yawn.

"Speaking of…Logan is there a place where we can rest for a little while. I'm super tired." I slide in closer to him.

"If you think we can spare the time…" He doesn't seem very interested in the idea. "It looks like there are some cities down below us. We could probably find a hotel down there."

"If we're going to have to fight Xehanort and Maleficent, it might be a good idea to get some rest. I mean it can't hurt us too much." Aqua glides up beside us.

"Alright then. Look, lights…do you want to stay in the city or do you want to just sleep out in the desert somewhere?"

"Are you being sarcastic Logan? I can't tell." Ven starts to laugh.

"He's not. Trust me, I can tell sarcasm." Van snickers.

"I just figured that maybe given our last experience at a hotel, we might…I don't know! I'm tired." His shout turns into a laugh.

"Hotel works just fine." Terra chuckles.

"This is our bet. We just need to be careful; cities tend to be more dangerous at night." Logan sends his glider into a deep dive. The five of us follow right after him. The lights get brighter and brighter as we get closer. About ten feet above the ground Logan jumps from his glider and puts away his Keyblade. I do the same.

"So where do we go?" I can't read a single sign.

"Uh…we walk around and hope someone speaks English." I think he might be just as lost.

"Not sure what that means, but I take it we're going to be waiting a while for this hotel." Van drops to his feet.

"Yeah…probably." Logan sighs.


	22. Down Time

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts nor do I own any of the mentioned Disney characters.**

A/N: Whew, that was close! They were almost fried! Well, we can't keep that tension up forever, so unfortunately this is a bit of a mellower chapter. I promise that the next chapter has some more umph to it. Either way I hope you like this…and the new cover! Please leave tons of reviews! Thanks!

**Kingdomheartsevanescencefood :** I'm glad you still like it and I hope you like where it all goes later! Thanks again!

* * *

Part XXII: Down Time

It took us about half an hour for us to find someone that at least speaks our language. This little city is called Milas and I guess it's still in Turkey. We met this really nice guy named, Asuman, who showed us to one of the hotels in the city. Logan got us all checked in and now we get a little time to relax. Terra and Aqua are in the room next to us, so Logan, Van, Ven and I are all together in the other room. Van brought his other clothes with him, which is good because that whole body suit thing is a little weird.

"I'm so tired…" Logan slumps against a wall after he opens the door to our darkened room. The guy at the front desk called this a "sweet" or something like that. At this point I really don't care much anyway, as long as it has somewhere to sleep, and no Heartless like the last one. We've been up for a few days now; I think I was running mostly on adrenaline or something to stay awake this long. Oh good, there's the bed.

"Goodnight." I flop face first into the pillow and fall asleep.

* * *

"Sora." Huh…why…is…someone…shaking me? I guess I should open my eyes…ugh…

"Logan? What's…going on?" Rubbing my eyes helps a bit to make everything a little less fuzzy.

"You might want to start waking up. Come on we've got to get going soon." Unh…

"What about the others?" Fine, I'll sit up.

"Next on the list." I look where he's pointing. Van is in one of the beds and Ven's over on the couch both sound asleep. Turning to the window, I realize that the sun is struggling to get up. It must be really early. Wow, I must have been really tired, I slept in my clothes…I usually never do that.

"Okay, do I have time to shower at least?" Logan turns to what must be a clock…

"If you're quick." He offers a smile, but I'm not sure if he was trying to be nice or sarcastic, eh…I don't care enough right now. Shower it is.

Once I get out of the shower, everyone seems to be, if against their will, moving. Van sitting against the back of the bed, and Ven's sitting up on the catch watching TV. I think he's watching more of the news, but there doesn't seem to be much on anything about the Heartless or the Nobodies. I wonder if they've started leaving the people alone. That's not how it usually goes, but maybe Xehanort was telling the truth that nothing is the same here.

"Morning guys," I wave before drying the last of my hair.

"Morning," Ven smiles and Van nods.

"So what's the plan?" Logan's sitting on the other bed. He always has a plan, which is definitely good since I'm more of the…well…impulsive type.

"Let's get something to eat first before we go. I'm starving."

"Me too!" I'm so glad Logan said that…the last time we ate was…hmmm…a long time ago I guess. I never thought about it before. That's weird for me; I'm the first one to think of food.

"The guy last night said that there's a little restaurant downstairs. We can go there before we head out, but we need to hurry." Logan slings his backpack up on his shoulder.

"I'll go get Terra and Aqua. We'll meet you down there." Ven stretches before heading for the door.

* * *

Okay, so now I'm full and awake, so I'm ready to go! I had this stuff called French toast for breakfast. I'm not sure why it's called that, but it was good with butter, sugar and syrup all over it. It kinda combined my favorite types of food, sticky, messy and sugary. Outside the hotel, we wait for Logan to tell us the plan.

"We need to get to Rhodes. Maleficent is probably already there, but I don't know if she'll be able to figure out the puzzle." Logan's doing something on his phone.

"How far are we?" Terra stands from the steps of the hotel.

"Well, this thing doesn't have a 'flying in a totally unknown manner' option, so it sends us by a couple boats, but it looks like about 50ish miles from here, so I'm thinking only fifteen, twenty minutes." Logan turns the island dotted map our way..

"Do you know where this Wonder is on the island?" Aqua folds her arms. It's kind of a stupid question, he has so far, why wouldn't he now?

"Not exactly."

"What?!"

"Well, I was reading a bit about it last night. They used to think that it went across the port, one foot on each side, but..." there's always a but, "there was something that said it was impossible for it to have been built there. One guess was this it's on a hill away from the port."

"So what are we going to do then? We need to find it before Maleficent can get the artifact." Ven crosses his arms.

"Does any part of it still exist? Like with the Lighthouse or the Temple?" I try to think of any way we can find this thing.

"I don't know...the thing I read said that it may have been apart of the temple on the island, so we have a few options. We can search the port for the bases of the statue or we can try to look up on the Temple's hill."

"The Temple makes the most sense," Van says as he cracks his back, "If you think about it, the statue is gone, obviously, and if it was at the port someone would have found it already as they tried to build something else. But if you look for someplace known to be a Temple, a lot could remain hidden afterward."

"I guess that makes sense if you think about it. Okay, are we all good with that?" I take out my Keyblade, hoping to head out soon.

"Okay let's go!" Logan does the same with his Keyblade. Everyone else nods. Almost as if we planned it, all our Keyblades fly into the air. We jump on as they fall back toward the ground. Here we come Maleficent.


	23. Darkness of the Heart

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

A/N: Okay, so we had a bit of break before, but as I promised things pick up big time! You'll just have to wait and see what this chapter brings though, so happy reading! Oh and please review! Thanks!

* * *

Part XXIV: Darkness of the Heart

"That's Rhodes below us!" I have to shout so the others can hear me. The wind here is bad and it makes it almost impossible to hear anything. I doubt even Sora could really hear me and he's maybe ten feet away. Anyway, I can see the port of the island below us. It must be nearing noon because the sun is really bright and it looks like there are a lot of people in the streets. That might be a problem. Vanitas said we should start look at the Temple area, so we might be able to avoid a lot of suspicion.

"So where is the Temple?" Terra's shout is hard to make out.

"It should be just away from the port, up the hill over there, but I think we need to get closer."

"But, what about all the people? There's no way we're going to be able to get close without being noticed." Ven has a point.

"Too bad, we don't have a choice." Vanitas answers faster than I can, but he's right really. We don't have a lot of time to spare. I don't know how long it'll take Maleficent to figure out the puzzle. The last one took her about forty minutes, but I don't know what the thing was or if it was easy or hard.

Vanitas leads our descent toward the island. He takes us over an alley way that seems not to have many people, so we can avoid too much attention.

"It looked like the Temple was about half a mile from here. I think if we..."

"Let's go!"

"Wait Sora! Ugh...alright." I chase after him out of the alley. "Watch for the cars!" I would have thought he would have learned by now. Gah...I check to see if...crap...crap...crap. There's this huge thing bounding across the tops of the buildings. I think it might be a Heartless. It looks almost like the one from the hotel. "Guys look out!" The monster jumps down from the roof with the others right below it. Aqua manages to cartwheel away just as the thing lands in front of her. "Sora, we've got a problem!" I hope he heard me. Man, I don't think we'll be able to handle this thing.

"You again!"

"What do you mean again?!" Aqua doesn't have time to answer Ven's question with all the swipes the thing is making with its claws.

"Let's take him!" Sora rushes back to us with his Keyblade. Maybe he's right, there are six of us. We might just be able to do this. Whoa, the tail spike just misses my face as I slide underneath. I have to be more careful. We manage to land a few hits right together, but ack. Need to watch for those spins. I take a slash at the tail. Dang it! The monster moved before I could get there. How is Vanitas doing that?! He's...watch out! This thing doesn't stay still. No,no, no, no...fire is not okay! This isn't working. What about...

"Sora!" I can just see him. A nod is all we share. This time I'm ready.

"Give me strength!" The stretchyness comes back, and everything goes black.

* * *

What's going on? I'm falling this time, but what about...the stained glass...or...

"Ven? Are you here?" No answer comes. Where am I? Am I just going to keep falling? It doesn't look like anything is above or below me. Why is this so different? Why is...

"Logan!" I struggle at flipping myself over, but there's some...one above me now.

"Ven is that you? What's going on?"

"I don't know. Something must have gone wrong when Sora went into his drive."

"But what's going to happen to us? Are we just going to keep falling?"

"I don't know, this hasn't happened to me before." His eyes are moving every which way, but I doubt he'll find anything.

"What..." A bright light opens in front of us like a door. We fall through it, and I can feel something wash over us.

* * *

Whoa! Not good! I think we're back, but that monster's still here, and yeahgg...that thing nearly swiped me with its tail. How is it moving so fast?! It's racing around us. I think, I hope, we've got it almost killed. It movements are more rapid and almost frantic. Aqua's landing the most attacks of any of us. Mostly through some magical light orbs, she keeps the thing away. Terra and Ven are double teaming it. Ven has these strange light blades surrounding him. Don't know how, but I don't have the time. Roll away! Awesome, I jabbed my Keyblade into one of the feet. Whoa!

"Look out!" I think the monster's going to roll over, but Vanitas isn't looking. Crap, he's going to be killed.

"What are you..." The two of us fall to the ground as the monster barrels away. "Ah...well...thanks." We help each other stand. With our blades in hand we join the others by the beast. It's down for just a second.

"Stay down this time!" Aqua jams her Key into the monster's eye. With a howl, I think the creature actually dies. There it is, the heart rises from the dissolving body. Wow...that was tough.

"Are you okay?" I look back to Vanitas, who doesn't seem too bad off. Sora's the one that looks worse. He has a couple of scratches along his arms and face. I wonder if it happened when we were in his heart.

"I'm fine. Thanks...for...uh...saving me earlier. I...owe ya." Vanitas looks away.

"No, you don't. Sora are you okay? What happened earlier?"

"Yeah, Sora it was totally weird. We were just falling this time..."

"Yeah...I'm okay." He wears that goofy smile even though he's clutching his stomach. I think he winced there too. "But, when I tried to go into Master Form, I ended up going into anti-form."

"What's anti-form?" Ven and I question.

"It's this thing from when I became a Heartless, sometimes if I use my forms too often, instead of going into the form I want, I go into anti-form."

"So it's a bad thing then?" That would explain the falling.

"Yeah, and I can't heal in that form either, so..."

"That explains the cuts and bruises," Ven points to Sora's scratched up body.

"Sora, do you want someone to heal you?" Aqua takes her Keyblade back out.

"No, I'm okay. Just a scratch!" His smile is interrupted by a small wince. "Are you guys ready to keep going?" I look around to everyone before nodding. "Okay, let'sssss go," he winces again. We start walking toward the Temple's hill. No one says anything for most of the walk.

"Hey Aqua, why did you say 'you again' to that Heartless earlier?" Terra breaks the silence.

"When I was lost in the Realm on Darkness...after everything that happened to us," I see Vanitas cringe, but he goes right back to not paying attention, "That monster followed me around and eventually it attacked me. I thought that maybe I had killed it, but I guess not."

"Got it now," Vanitas chuckles. We're almost there; I think I can see what's left of that Temple. The only problem is...how do we get in?


	24. On the Rhode(s) Again

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney**

A/N: Whew…that was a close one! Who knew that Heartless was going to show back up? At least Sora's okay, even if he's being stubborn and stupid by not getting help, but whatever. I hope you all like this part! Please review! Thanks!

**Tiagodasilvacunha: **Thanks for the review! And don't worry too much about it! I know what that's like; school's gotten to me too. XD I hope you like all these next chapters too!

* * *

Part XXIV: On the Rhode(s) Again

"Okay, so where do you think the temple would be?" Sora cringes a bit. I wish he would just let someone heal him. Not me though because I would screw it up and hurt him more. I still haven't really gotten the whole magic thing down.

"If it's anything like the last one, underground somewhere." I walk closer to one of the research pits, looking for anything helpful.

"But where? What're we looking for?" Ven shows up behind me.

"I couldn't tell you...my best guess would be a Keyhole looking object." Nothing, these pits have already been totally searched. We spread out along the site. I think it's a Wednesday so there aren't that many people around, not that it really matters at this point. I wonder where Maleficent is. Given the Heartless, actually, she must be near the artifact. Agh...how are we ever going to find this one? At least last time I know around where we were looking, but this time I'm not even sure it's here.

"What about down here?" Vanitas' voice is coming from somewhere, but I can't see him.

"Where are you?"

"I'm in this weird step thing. It's a theater." Oh...he must be in the amphitheater over the hill. I step to the edge of the theater seats. Vanitas is standing on the stage with the others are up on the other side. There must be something down there, or he's just causing trouble.

"Is there something down there?" Aqua has her hands on her hips.

"There are some weird marks here." He's point down at the platform he's standing on. Hmm...I wonder. Running down the stairs, I make it to him just before the others. He brushes it with his foot. Sora kneels down beside the raised stone and wipes away some of the dust.

"They're more of those Greek letters." Sora's eyes widen. "What do these ones say?"

"I'm not really sure...but if I remember right, this one with the Kai is the word for Key. That could mean that this is what we're looking for. There might be more here." I wipe the left over sand from my pants.

"Hey guys, I may have found something," Ven calls from up on the seats, "It looks like a key cutout."

"There's one over here too. I can push it down with my hand..." Terra's on his knees in the lower left area of the seats.

"I found one too." Aqua waves to us. Sora, Vanitas and I look at each other before starting to scrape away at the stone. Dust flies around us.

"I got one here!" I blow away the last bit of dust.

"Me too." Vanitas pushes down on his Keyhole shaped piece.

"Uh guys, we might have a problem." I turn around to look at Sora. In front of him are two more keyholes...crap. There are only six of us, and if it's anything like the lighthouse, only Keyblades will open these.

"What's the problem?" Just unlock the other one first, then that one." Vanitas gives us this look like we're stupid.

"Will that work?" Sora turns to me as if I know the answer, but I don't so I shrug.

"Maybe?" I take out my Keyblade so we can give it a shot. Five more flashes of light appear around the theater. Turning our keys causes what sounds like tumblers to go off. Sora switches his Key from one hole to the other...uh oh...still nothing...

"It didn't work..." Sora tries turning his Key back and forth. I doubt it's going to work any better.

"Then how are we going to get in?" Ven slumps against the row of seats. Vanitas falls to the ground.

"So much for that idea."

"We're gonna need another Keyblade, so we can open all the locks," Aqua folds her arms.

"So great, we came all this way to be one short. She's going to get that artifact for sure now." I join Vanitas on the ground. How are we going to get down there? We need to get in the temple...everything...we've done would be screwed up if we can't get in. We just sit here for awhile without saying anything. I just can't believe that after all we've been through and everything we've worked for...it's all over.

"Hey you guys need some help?" Wha...how did Ven...

"Roxas!" Sora leaps up before I can even stand, " Boy am I glad to see you!" So that's Roxas...wow, he really does look like Ven.

"Roxas! You're here!" Ven comes running down the stairs. While Vanitas and I stand, Aqua and Terra start their way down.

"Yep, Naminé and I got together for our anniversary date and then I followed Merlin's instructions here." Roxas puts his hands behind his head like Sora does a lot.

"Wait so Merlin knows where we are?" Sora leans on his Keyblade.

"I don't know, he just told me about where to go. There weren't any Heartless at this last place I went, so I figured that you must have left. When I got to this island, I saw a giant Heart float above the buildings, so I knew it had to be you. I'm Roxas by the way." He reaches his hand out to me.

"I'm Logan." I shake his hand.

"Oh you're the one Merlin told us about. The one that was born on the islands, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," I start laughing.

"Wow, did you know you look just like Sora?" He smiles.

"So you all say," Sora answers with the right amount of sarcasm, which is a lot.

"Sorry. So what's up?" Roxas smiles again.

"We think one of the Wonders is below this theater. There are seven Keyholes around this place, but they all have to be opened at the same time," Aqua points to each as she talks.

"I guess I showed up at the right time, then!" He breaks into a laugh. I smile before heading toward "my" keyhole.

"Ready to try this again?" I line mine up. The others nod as they move back to where they were, and Roxas stands by Sora. Here we go...


	25. Hands of Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

A/N: Well that makes the whole gang now! The only problem is, there are still three other artifacts to find including this one, so there's still a tough road ahead. Will they beat Maleficent to the artifact? What if she's already gotten it and vanished? That'd suck wouldn't it? I hope you all like this one! Please review! Thanks!

* * *

Part XXV: Hands of Time

Light shoots out from every Keyhole that covers all the seats. Without thinking we all run from the theater as the light dissolves everything.

"I guess that's our way in?" Roxas spins his Keyblade as we step back into the theater with a gaping hole in it. Where the seats were is now a set of steps heading toward the inside.

"Looks like it," I look down into the chamber in front of us. It's mostly black, so seeing anything is pointless.

"Come on we've got stop Maleficent!" We rush in behind Sora. She's definitely here. All the torches are lit and there's our first batch of Heartless. Not much trouble though, especially with seven of us. Although I don't know how much help that will be when it comes to getting through this Temple. The torches illuminate a meandering pattern along the walls with some paintings every so often. The layers of dust have been building up, so Maleficent must not've disturbed much of this part. Plus, this hall has been mostly empty of Heartless and Nobodies. I think we've seen five.

"Hold up guys." There's always something.

"What is it Sora?" I step up behind him, " Oh...that..." Out in front of us is a huge chasm, probably twenty yards across and wide. The only way we have to get across is these stone pillars that are rising up from below.

"So what's the problem, just glide across," Terra's Keyblade is the first of three to appear.

"Whoa, careful...they may not be the best idea," I hold down Sora's Keyblade so he can't have it transform, "the jets from these things might damage the Temple. Remember how easy it was to break the ceiling of the Lighthouse? We don't want parts of this thing falling down on top of us." It looks like there are fifteen pillars around, "Okay we must be able to get across if we try using those pillars."

"Let me go first," Ven walks to the edge.

"Be careful Ven," it looks like he sighed at Aqua's comment. There he goes. He makes one leap after another pausing every once in a while to make sure he's on the right track. There! He made it!

"Okay guys follow the way I went. Be careful. In the middle there's this branch that'll lead you that way," he points over toward the wall.

"Here I go," Roxas mimics his look-alike's path. Sora and I follow one after the other. Vanitas jumps to the other side right after us, and Aqua's not far behind. That just leaves Terra. I was a little worried about him getting across since he's bigger than...crap!

"Terra!" Aqua's shout echoes. She jumps back to the pillars. I can see his fingertips. He slipped on one of them. Thankfully, he caught himself. Whew...he's pulling himself back up. "Are you okay, Terra?"

"Yeah...I'm okay." He stands on his pillar, "I...miscalculated my jump. I've got this." Like he said, he makes it to the side.

"Okay, we must be near the artifact chamber," Roxas and I stand at the doorway to the hall.

"And that means Maleficent must be close too," we start walking down this hall.

"Do you think she's figured out the puzzle?" Sora turns to me as if I have the answer.

"Figures that witch would be involved in all of this," Roxas growls.

"Yeah she is...I don't know. The last one took her a really long time, so she might or she might not."

"That's helpful," Vanitas scoffs.

"Sorry, but I don't have a crystal ball for all her doings," I flood my words with sarcasm. Vanitas gives me this angry stare to which I return a smug smile.

"Alright you two. We're not going to get anywhere like this." Aqua sounds just like my Mom. Speaking of, I wonder if they're having fun...or if my grandmother has noticed anything yet I haven't seen any calls on my phone, but she's probably tried calling the house a bunch. I wonder how she's doing, especially with Tommy. He's my little brother, I didn't get to say goodbye to him...they're supposed to stop by the house on Saturday before Mom and Dad get back on Monday. We were going to go buy them their anniversary present. I miss them so much. I wish...

"Logan? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah you kinda just stopped," I break my trance and look up at Sora.

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm okay...just thinking about something," I smile.

"You sure?" Ven tilts his head, but I still nod. "Okay..."

"I bet the artifact chamber is right after this hall," Sora points further down the hall. If the other places were any example, he's right.

"Okay, come on!" I start running toward where Sora was pointing. I can hear the others following. Sora's right or at least from what I can tell. There's a huge dome, I'm starting to think that's going to be a thing with all these Greek wonders. The statues in this one are huge, probably twenty feet tall. I guess the people here really liked their big statues.

"Found it," Vanitas looks up toward the top of the stone dome. I forgot he hadn't seen the last one of these, which also explains why Roxas isn't saying anything. Is he still here? Okay yep there he is...he's standing under one of the statues...it kinda looks like Zeus, actually that wouldn't surprise me at all. Anyway, there must be an artifact around here somewhere or at least the way into the chamber.

"So what do these artifacts look like?" Roxas breaks from his trance.

"The last one was this tiny statue about this big," I shape a foot long box with my hands, "I don't know what it was, but...I don't know." I scrunch up my face.

"How do we find it?" Terra's wandering around the dome. I don't have an answer for that, but there must be some way to get to the artifact chamber. These walls have a lot of indentures. What's that glinting? There's not a lot of light down here, so I don't know what's causing that. Maybe it's just something in the stone. What's that light? Roxas must have summoned his Keyblade because that's where this other light came from. I wonder what he's...whoa! A beam of light bursts from beside me, along with five others. They're...all meeting in the middle...and wow...they're shooting the top of the...this must be the way to the artifact. The entire dome is covered in light and this wind has started whipping around us. I barely see Roxas struggling to hold his Keyblade.

"Look another Keyhole!" Ven has to shout for us to even hear him. It's up above us now. The wind stops and everything goes totally black.

* * *

"What is this place?" I find myself saying that without thinking. It looks like something from space with Nebulas or at least those colorful clouds, plus a lot of "stars." I wonder where the others...nevermind, Sora's right across from me and everyone else is arrayed around like a clock. Except it looks like there are two Roxases, and not just Ven, but Roxas twice.

"Whoa, there are...two...of me?" Roxas, the real Roxas, moves his hands around and the copy does the same thing, "Cool!"

"Is this where the artifact is?" Aqua's opposite Terra, about thirty feet apart.

"It could be but this isn't much of a..." what just happened? Wait now I'm somewhere else? "Puzzle." We switch again...and again...every few seconds...we...get thrown...to a different part of the circle.

"Guys...what's...going...on!" Sora manages between transports.

"This must be the puzzle..." Ven blurts out before being moved.

"How do we solve it?" Vanitas forcibly shifts places.

"Wait...we're...always opposite the same person. Watch, I'm with Aqua... Logan's with Sora...Ven with Van...and Roxas with...Roxas," Terra gets out in four changes.

"Hey...Terra's right," I'm opposite Sora, every time.

"So that doesn't help us. How do we get through the puzzle," Sora folds his arms.

"There has to be..."

"Guys check this out!" Roxas isn't...moving anymore. He and his replica have stopped switching spots. Do we need to...

"Hey Sora, let's try something. On the count of three, take a step forward. Okay?" I hope that was a nod, "One...two...three..." Everything stopped. We should have switched by now too. That must be it. You have to move with your partner. "Terra, Aqua, Ven, Vanitas, you have to step out with the person opposite you. I think you might have to do it at the same time." I watch as the four of them appear and reappear every couple of seconds.

"Terra? Are you ready?"

"Yep...one..."

"Two..."

"Three!" They did it! Their standing still, so that has to be how we stop all of this.

"Ven, when I say..."

"Now." Wow that's the first time I've heard Ven assert himself like that, but hey it worked. So that makes everybody...maybe...or a giant clock face...I guess that works too. Each of us are standing on a number, but I'm not sure what we're supposed to do. We can't cover the clock because there are only seven...well eight of us, so we're short about a quarter of the clock, so what could it be? At least we can move so we don't have to yell to each other.

"Okay, so we've got eight-ish people and twelve numbers. There must be something to this." We huddle closer together, near the center of the clock.

"Is there anything special about the numbers?" Roxas, I think the real one, turns back to look at the almost crystalline numbers.

"Doesn't look like it. One through twelve, like it's supposed to be," Vanitas sound dissatisfied, but I'm starting to think that's just how he is.

"What about the hands? Maybe they do something?" Ven offers. I hadn't even noticed the hands at all, but they're moving in a strange way. Not like they're supposed to, but randomly, and they pause at a number every few seconds. Then it's back around in any which way they seem to choose.

"I don't know...let's give it a shot!" Sora walks back to the numbers. I'm not sure what it is we're supposed to be doing. He walks around the edge following the big hand. What is he thinking of? "Hey Ven, you're nearest the other hand, can you follow it?" He nods and...not much happens. They're on every number that the clock stops at, but nothing. There must be something else...what if...

"Hey Ven, let me take your spot."

"Uh...okay..."

"We were paired up when we got in here, so maybe..."

"That's how we get out of here!" I nod at Sora. Hopefully this'll work. "So, I'll take big hand, you take little?"

"Works for me," okay the numbers should be stopping...now. The whole clock shakes as chimes go off...and the numbers under Sora and my feet disappear. "That must have been it!"

"Look the number one is gone too." Roxas, both Roxases point at the now blank first spot.

"Who's next?" Vanitas looks around to everyone.

"Come on Van; you and I will go." Ven grabs Vanitas by the arm and drags him to the numbers.

"Little...big?" He points to Ven and then himself.

"Sure," he and Vanitas begin their walk around the circle, and all of ten seconds later they find a match. Two disappears along with them. Aqua and Terra go next. A few seconds pass and that just leaves Roxas and his copy.

"Piece of cake." He starts his cycles around, "Uh, guys...we might have a problem...he only moves opposite me, we can only do the ones furthest apart."

"But that only leaves twelve and six, and I haven't seen the clock hit that." The only other number there is four, so I'm not sure how well we're going to make this work. It stops at six and four several times, but never twelve and six. There must be someway...Roxas tries running from his clone to close the gap, but it doesn't do much.

"I have an idea!" We swing around to look at Ven. "Roxas and I look alike, so maybe we can fool the clock." He steps back onto the numbers.

"Let's give it a shot! I'll take four." Ven nods at Roxas' instruction. That puts his opposite at ten, not that it seems to matter. Okay here come the arms...nothing...crap...that was our best chance wasn't it?

"I really thought that was going to work," both Roxases hang their heads.

"Maybe it still can...what if you take six and I'll take four. That puts him at twelve, so maybe..." Ven looks back to us, but I have no clue, so...

"Okay," Roxas switches to the six and Ven the four. The hands stop a bunch of times, just not at six and four. Come on...there! The loud chime sounds out and all three numbers disappear. "It worked! Whoa..." Roxas turns his hands over and over I imagine looking at why he's glowing orange. I feel like that's not a good thing...never mind, it went away. "Aw man...I liked having him," Roxas' copy is gone. That must've been the glow.

"Hey, you've still got me!" Ven smiles a huge smile.

"Will you do whatever I do?" Roxas moves his hands around wildly, I think he's trying to see if it would work on Ven.

"No...but we still look like each other, so you get half the deal," our laughter bursts out throughout the...I don't know, whatever this is.

"So where's the artifact? Did Maleficent already get it?" I hope what Sora said isn't true. We go through all of this to have nothing. Huh? All the numbers have come back and now they're glowing...is this a good thing? Everything goes dark.

* * *

"Hey we're back in the dome," I hear Terra say before I open my eyes again.

"Fools! How dare you attempt to steal my artifact?!" Uh oh...I know that voice a little too well. So I guess she hadn't found it until now. Wait? Is that it, in the purple sphere? It has to be. I've got to grab it. I don't think she...ow! Nasty witch smacked me with that staff of hers.

"Sora grab it!" I slam into the opposite wall. I scramble to my feet. Oh please...yes he got it! Dang it...Heartless start dropping in on us. "Look out! She's behind you!" She strikes Sora and the piece again goes flying. "Get that Heartless!" I'm too far away to get the artifact from it. Roxas is right there. Hurry...yes he got it. Okay, time to deal with these other Heartless. Sora's holding off Maleficent for the moment. I've got about five Heartless around me. I've got to get to the others. There's my chance. I swipe at one of the Heartless, clearing a narrow path out. Is someone still holding on to it? Really?! More Heartless! Not okay! Argh...they're those ones from when she captured me. I hate those shields! I jump out of the way to avoid being bitten. Things are getting out of hand. I can't even keep track of whose attacks are whose! Ven must have it because Maleficent is right on him. Wow, I've never seen her kick before. Whoa, shadow on the Keyblade. I fling it backward into the wall. That was too close for me. Terra's managed to get to her. He hit her away!

"Ven take the artifact and run! We'll be right behind you!" She doesn't stay down for long. We have to get out of here!

We start running away, but I know she's not far behind. More Heartless?! Ugh…

"Just keep running! We've got what we came for!" Roxas shouts from beside me.

"Remember to watch for those pillars!" We have to be careful not to drop it or ourselves down there. Still, Ven hops across without issue. Terra takes it slower this time and makes it. The rest of us are right behind.

"Meteors of Heaven, unleash thy fury!" What does that…

"Get down!" My body reacts to Sora's command. A huge rock flies over our heads, followed by a few more. "We have to get out of here!" We get back up and run for the stairs. A little bit of the sun is leaking in. We're almost through. My hair stands on end for, ouch! Lightning?! Urgh…I hate that witch.

"We're out!" Ven raises the artifact in victory.

"But not through it yet, here they come!" Terra points back into the Temple. We can hear the Heartless climbing the stairs.

"Let's go, we'll figure things out later!" We hope on our gliders and zip out of Rhodes as fast as we can.

* * *

A/N (Part 2): Hey everyone! I hope you liked this part! I have an opinion question for you all. The next major plot point doesn't happen until Wonder six, so that means five won't have anything really big in it. I was wondering, would you like it better if I just summarized the general happenings in five rather than create a whole couple of chapters about it? Leave me a review or send me a PM about it! Thanks!


	26. Glimpses of the Future

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the other properties mentioned in this story.**

A/N: Well, I got no reviews on the last chapters :(, so I'm going to assume that no one cared about what happened in number five, so I'm skipping to six. You guys need to let me know if you want to see something changed, otherwise nothing will. Anyway, this chapter builds up to what I think will be one of the pre-climax, climaxes. There is a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter, so make sure you pay attention :)! Well, I guess that's it, sorry for taking so long to update. Please, please, please, please, please review! Thanks!

-N

* * *

Part XVII Memories of the Past; Glimpses of the Future

"That was uneventful," Terra's glider ascends to be with the rest of us.

"Hey we still got the artifact and Maleficent didn't," I look back to see Ven's smile. We went to where the Statue of Zeus used to be. Somewhere near Olympia...if this was less of an urgent thing, I would've stopped and seen where they had the first Olympics. Wasn't really the right time though.

"You know that means she's planning something."

"Kill joy," Roxas doesn't turn to Vanitas.

"I'm just saying...I've been on the other side. When we were leaving you alone, it meant we were planning something for you," Vanitas raises his hands like he's defending himself. They told me about his past, but I guess it's a sore spot still.

"He's probably right. Maleficent and Xehanort are masters at planning and waiting," Terra's the one that answers, which is kinda surprising.

"But we have something they need. So we stand a chance," Aqua must be talking about the two artifacts we have. Maleficent has three, so if we get this last one, we'll have an even score.

"Changing from this gloomy topic, where are we headed?" Roxas slides over toward me.

"Well, we went to Olympia because it was easier to find, so that means we have the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus."

"Where is this Mausoleum then?" Sora joins our conversation.

"Well, do you remember where the Temple of Artemis and Rhodes were?" They all nod, "Right between them," I offer an apologetic smile.

"So we flew right over it?!"

"Sorry! But Sora if you'd like to read all the maps, by all means," I hold out my phone as if I'm going to give it to him.

"That's okay. At least we're getting to them all," that's what I thought he'd say. I give him a smug smile.

"Okay, so all joking aside, how far away is it?" Ven asks from behind me.

"I can't tell for sure, but I gues-timate about half an hour away from here."

"So once we find this one, it's just..."

"The Gardens of Babylon, yeah..." Sora answers Terra's statement...er..question thing.

"That means...it's almost time to fight Xehanort...again," Ven lowers his head.

"And Maleficent too," Sora sounds disappointed. He should've known this has been coming. I've been think about it a lot lately. She's not happy about the whole thing, so I bet she's looking to get back at us. Plus there was that last time when stole the artifact right out from under her. We haven't really been making friends lately.

"So what do we know about this Mausoleum?" I've gotten better at hearing the shouts, this one from Terra, up here.

"It's a pretty big site, so we'll be able to find it pretty easily. Um...it was a tomb, so there may be a series of catacombs or tunnels or something underneath it. My guess is that it'll be like the other Wonders with a Temple underneath with the artifact."

"That seems to be the best guess right now."

We stay silent for a couple of minutes, just watching the water pass underneath us, watching as life continues without any knowledge of what might just be around the corner.

"It's so weird to see them all continuing life as if nothing's gone wrong," Aqua must be talking about the couple of boats and cruise ships that we've flown over.

"I know. Other than that first night, I haven't heard much about the Heartless attacking any of the people around here," I remember that broadcast Ven's talking about. I haven't heard anything either.

"I wonder if it had something to do with how far we are from home," Sora cocks his brow.

"That would make sense. Maybe she can only call so many, and she's using them more to fight us than make more Heartless of these people," Roxas shrugs.

"They're acting like life is fine, but they don't even know what could be coming," I sigh long and loud. I think again about my parents, enjoying vacation in the Caribbean sun, on the beaches, under the water. They're completely unaware of where I am or what's been happening. It's not their fault or anything, but I just wish I could tell them or talk to them. They called from the airport before they went to the resort. That was the last time I heard them. They're going to call when they get ready to get on the plane...tomorrow...I think or maybe that was today. Agh...really hope it wasn't today. I've lost track of the days that we've been here. I think it's Monday, so they should...yep...the phone says so. It's Monday...here at least, maybe it's still Sunday back home. I don't know how far ahead we are. What are they going to do when they walk through the door? What about Grandma and Tommy? I called her the other day and told her that we couldn't get together, but I won't be able to wiggle out of this one. I want to see them really bad. I wish I could even hear their voices.

"Logan? Are you okay?"

"Wha...huh...sorry what?"

"Is everything okay? You've been spacing out a lot lately..." I guess they, or at least Ven, have noticed.

"I don't know. I've been thinking about my family...my parents are supposed to come back today."

"Come back? Where did they go?" I haven't told anyone but Sora, so I guess I should tell them.

"They were off on their anniversary vacation, so I didn't even tell them that I was going anywhere. I left a little note on the island in the kitchen, but they won't get that until they walk in the house. Even then, they won't be able to say anything to me. I'm not sure how it's going to go over with them."

"They'll probably be worried,"

"You know Terra, the right answer would've been something along the lines of it'll be okay," I hang my head.

"Sorry, I just thought you'd like the truth."

"I know, thanks. I'm just...I don't know..." I sigh, "Sorry...I really miss them is all. I honestly wasn't thinking it would be this big journey when we started."

"Well just think, we're almost done. And then we can all go home!"

"Thanks Roxas."

"Speaking of...Logan are you going to come back with us?"

"I don't know Ven...most of my life is...oh this it!" Whew...just in time. I don't have a good answer for that question. "See that outcropping of stone? That's it." We drop toward the surface, the stone getting larger and...hmm...there's a bunch of people. That's going to make this more difficult.

"Land beyond. We'll be less noticed by the people," Vanitas points further in the distance. I nod and continue on for a couple hundred yards beyond the site. There aren't any roads, so we can hopefully avoid any more attention.

"Do we have a plan?" Sora jumps down, with the rest of us right behind him.

"Best guess is it's underneath this site here," I put away my Keyblade and walk out of the patch of brush that we landed in. With a nod Sora and Roxas lead us back.

"20 a piece...what is this little symbol here mean?" Sora trues examining the admission board.

"It's the symbol for Euros, it's the money here."

"It costs munny to get to this one?!" Roxas leans forward in a stance that seems defeated.

"This is how most people get to see things like this. Don't worry, it's not that big a deal," I walk into the ticket line. There's a lot of people here for a Monday. Not too bad though. I'm at the front of the line a few minutes.

"Γεια σας, πώς μπορώ να σας βοηθήσω," oh crap...

"Um...I need seven adult tickets," I hold up seven fingers. I really hope she at least understands some English.

"Okay, 140€ please," the woman smiles.

"Thank you!"

"Not a problem," sometimes I really love that English is a universal language. With tickets in hand, I head back.

"Here we go..." I hand out our tickets, "Over this way," I point toward the ruins.

Stepping down we enter the remnants of the stone structure. There's not all that much above ground; mostly rock ledges and chunks organized into steps. What's interesting, to me at least, it looks like there are tunnels that go deeper under the ground. I go near one, not sure what it will do for us or where it'll get us. Still there are a lot of people are around us, so we're going to have to be careful, but we need to get in there.

"Hey Sora," I make sure to keep my voice quiet.

"What's up?" I'm glad he's whispering and not drawing attention to himself. Wordlessly, I point over to the tunnel. He looks over. "You think?" I offer a shrug. I don't know what's beyond that shadow, "Worth a shot."


	27. A Strange Feeling

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.**

A/N: Alrighty, so Logan and Sora have an idea, but is it a good one? I mean who knows where that hole might lead? It might be some big animal for all I know, okay, probably not given the whole tourist attraction thing, but think of all the spiders and crap in there. Ew! Anyway on to more cheerful things. This chapter is mostly filler, but it leads up to one of the most important, if not _the _most important chapters next, so if you didn't like this one, just hold on a little longer! I promise it'll be okay! Please review, even if it's only a word! Thanks!

* * *

Part XVII: A Strange Feeling

I start crawling into the darkened hole. It's a tight fit, but I think even Terra will be able to make it through. The fading light is making it harder and harder to see. I wish I had my flashlight, not that it would fit in here anyway. Still, it'd make things easier.

"Hey Logan, do you see anything?" I can only barely hear what Sora's saying.

"Not yet, but…well I'm not sure how far I've got left down here."

"What do you…"

"Found something!" I call out before he can finish. I stand from knees in this still dark, but much bigger area. It's not as big as most of the artifact chambers in the other wonders. "Sora, get in here…and bring everyone else. I think I've found it." His response is mumbled, so I hope he's on his way.

"'Kay Logan, we're here…man I can't see a thing down here." It took them about another minute for them all to get here.

"Did you happen to bring my bag with you?" I turn in the direction where I think Sora is. I can't see him or the others.

"I have it."

"Ven…er…Roxas…okay I can't see which one of you that was. Whoever that was can you go into that bag and find the flashlight."

"This thing?" I can see Roxas' face in the new light.

"Yep, that's it." I shield my eyes from the light that Roxas shines across my face. I can't see much else besides the walls and the ceiling about two feet above Terra's head. He slowly moves the light around the area. The only thing I think I saw was a little shimmer as it passed behind us. "Roxas, shine it there again." The light jumps toward where I'm pointing. "Look at that…it's water."

"How are we going to get anywhere then? Is that the only way to get out of here?" Aqua's voice doesn't have very far to echo, but it still manages to. Roxas runs the light along the other walls. Solid…everything about them. There's no other way.

"It doesn't look like it. I betcha this was all empty, but then it filled up." Ven steps up to the water.

"That would mean our only way is through the water," Terra stands beside me.

"I've got this. Roxas shine the light so I can see." Sora starts taking off the excess layers of clothing before he…ack…well I guess I needed a bath. As I try to shake off, Roxas illuminates Sora's journey down into the water, but he quickly swims out of sight. I'm not sure what he'll find down there, especially without any light. There's his head.

"Find anything?" Vanitas doesn't even give him a chance to breathe.

"Yeah…it…goes…on…a lot further than I thought," he gasps a couple of times, "there are these strange blue lights on the walls that help you to see. I don't think we'll be able to make it there. I about ran out of air." Sora pulls himself back out of the water.

"So how are we going to get to it then?" I hand Sora his jacket and shirt.

"Well, when I went to Atlantica, Donald used this weird spell to turn us into sea creatures, so we could breathe under water." He slides back into his clothes.

"Do you think we'll need to do something like that?" I look over at the now fully clothed Sora.

"It doesn't matter, I don't know how to do it any way."

"Wait…I think I know how he did it. Here let me give it a try…" the flash of her Keyblade outshines the flashlight. She's pointing it at…me? What? Why me?!

"Aqua! Wait!" The flash of light surrounds my vision. I feel myself fall into the water. I open my eyes and hold my breath. Got to get to the surface. Need air. I gulp down air as my head breaks the surface. "Aqua…that…" now that I can breathe I start to actual realize something, "actually…worked…wow" I look down into the water and see that my legs are gone, hopefully not forever, but in their place is a bluish tail like thing, and I have a same colored fin stuck to my butt. When I move my new "legs" the tail swishes back and forth under the water. "Okay, this is definitely cool." I can feel the smile spread across my face. I wiggle the fins and swim around a little bit above and under the water. I can really breathe under water too! I never knew what that would feel like, but it feels just like it does above water. So cool!

"Logan? Are you done?"

"Oh…right…sorry. Yeah Sora, I'm done. It works though, so if you're willing." I motion toward the water. I can't really see any of the others right now.

"Okay everyone are you ready?" Sure, she gives them a warning. I dive back underwater to get out of their way. Splashing, the others drop into the illuminated water. Sora looks like a mer…well I guess merman in this case, kind of like me, as do Roxas and Ven.

"What the heck?"

"Vanitas, I think you're a barracuda. It's a fish with really big teeth." I try to explain from the little bit of sea type knowledge I have.

"Awesome." He sounds happy, which is good…I hope.

"Why did I end up as the turtle?!" Terra tumbles head over…er…shell before coming to rest right side up.

"Sorry Terra, not everyone can be a…an Octopus?! What?!" I try not to snicker too much at Aqua's realization of her new eight legged form. "I guess I didn't get it quite right."

"I'm happy!" I avoid Aqua's glare.

"Me too!" Vanitas chuckles from up above us.

"Alright come on guys, we're here for a reason."

"Terra you're just mad you got made into a turtle." Ven swims passed, "But I guess you're right. Sora which way did you go while you were down here earlier?"

"Over that way." I can just barely see where Sora's pointing. We all nod and start swimming that way. It's a little unnerving to see all of this stuff underwater. Everything is so preserved, almost as though time stopped. The walls are tiled and painted without even a hint of fading. I would stare for a bit, but now really isn't the time.

"Look at this place," Roxas lets his voice trail, "It looks so…new."

"Yeah none of the others had this sort of stuff on the walls. Or the statues in the halls." Ven swims up to one of the statues that still has painted eyes and everything. The ceiling of this "tunnel" is carved out with these square indentations. It must have filled almost as soon as the people left it. Maybe that's why this part was abandoned. We swim on through the chambers moving one from the next. A couple of jellyfish looking Heartless appeared earlier, but Sora had them taken out before the rest of us even knew what was going on. That's about it. We haven't seen much of anything else. I mean we've had an art gallery to look at, but nothing in way of an artifact chamber. We just keep swimming for a while.

"Hey everyone, come look at this," Aqua's voice calls from the right.

"Wow…those are some pretty big rocks," Sora's the first one over there, "Where do you think they came from?"

"My guess would be from up there." Aqua points at the ceiling, which now that I look at it has a huge gaping hole.

"That'd make sense…do you think something's up there?" I make my way over next to them.

"Only one way to find out." Roxas rushes passed us and up through the hole. With more caution, the rest of us follow up behind him. This hole actually leads up through a couple of floors. We must actually getting near the surface. Wait…Roxas is stopped.

"We can't go this way. It stops right above me." I watch Roxas drop to our level.

"So what does that leave us?" Aqua puts her human hands on top of her octopus ones.

"Why don't we check one of these out?" Ven starts down the side of the tunnel.

"Ven wait! We don't know what's down…" Terra calls out, but Ven keeps going. I look to the others, shrug and swim after him, and I can feel the front of Sora's current along the fins of my tail. Ven's going really fast through here, which is kinda worrying me since there's a lot of rocks down here. Poor Terra's probably struggling to even stay where he can see us.

"Ack! Ven you need to stop stopping like that! First your shoe on my head and now your tail in my mouth." I spit out the "Ven" from my mouth and start scrubbing my tongue with finger.

"Sorry…" he smiles at me. Someday that won't work on me as well as it does now. "But, I found something." He waves his hand through the water, "It's the surface."

"Are you sure, Ven?" Aqua and Terra finally arrive behind us.

"Yeah I can feel the air above me, plus there's this big light above it."

"Okay, well if you're sure then I'll turn us back to normal. Just make sure to hold your breath." Aqua's keyblade is out. Okay here we go.

This time it's real. Need to get to the surface. Need to breathe. A little further. There. Okay, now I can start to think as the others all pull themselves from the water.

"Well, what have we here…"

* * *

A/N: So what'd ya think? I tried to have more fun with this chapter, plus I think it'd be really cool to be a mermaid/merman for a bit. Please review! Thanks again!


	28. Voices

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney, which now even owns Star Wars and Indiana Jones, soon Disney will own the world *sigh***

A/N: Sorry this took a long while to update, but this is the absolute emotional climax and I wanted to make sure that I got it perfect. That and school's had me really busy lately too. This chapter is my favorite so far both to write and to read. This whole scene is filled with bucket loads of emotion. I really hope I captured them well. Please let me know what you thought about it in a review! After these next few chapters everything will start coming together very quickly, so I hope you like it! I've also again included music selections because I think they will help to make the moment. I'll put a list of songs that correspond to numbers in the story. Just go to YouTube and search the songs. When the next number shows up change songs. Of course you don't have to, but I think it'll make it better.

[1]: Episode III Palpatine's Teachings

[2]: FFXIII Separate Paths

[3]: Anakin's Dark Deeds

[4]: FFXIII: No Way to Live

[5]: Fabula Nova Crystallus

[6]: Lightning's Theme (Let this one play a few seconds before reading)

* * *

Part XXIX: Voices

[1]That voice...it's made everything worse. I should've known that we wouldn't get off that easily.

"You again...and you brought companions." I look back to the others who are busy pulling themselves from the water. I try to shake off as much of it before I look back to her. There she is in all her green-skinned anti glory. Those black horns and gold staff resting motionless. She has this smile that's more of a smirk.

"Maleficent..." Sora steps up beside me. The others aren't far behind, "What do you want?"

"I am quite certain I have already made my intentions clear." That witch makes me so angry. She's made my life such a wreck. She tried to use me, she did use me! "But since you are so insistent. I've come for the artifacts. And now you will give them to me."

"Why would we ever do something like that?!"

"Perhaps I can persuade you..." What does she mean? Why is she smirking again? What's going...Just felt my stomach sink.

"Mom? Dad? Tommy?" She wouldn't would she? "what...how...I thought you were..." I start walking closer to them. There are so many Heartless around them. Why are they even here? They're supposed to be home.

"Logan? What are you doing here?" I know I can't get any closer without the Heartless getting me, but I want to be with them. This whole time I've wanted to be with them and they're right here. I can't believe it. Even my little brother got dragged into this whole thing. My little brother...he was just...what did she do to my grandparents? Did she...kill them?

"What do you want with my family?" It's really hard to keep my voice from shaking.

"Give me the artifacts and I will release them to you." Look at how scared they are.

"How do we know you'll keep your end?" Terra's words mimic my fears.

"Very well. I will give the child to you as a symbol of my goodwill." Thank goodness they're letting Tommy go.

"Tommy! You're okay!" I kneel down to grab my little brother.

"Logan, what're those things? What are they going to do to mommy and daddy?" I hold him in my arms as long as I can. I'm so afraid that if I let go, he'll be gone.

"It'll be okay." I turn to Sora, "Sora...please...give her the artifacts...please..."

"Logan...there must be another way..." What is Aqua saying?!

[2]"We can't just let them die! They're my parents!" I feel my voice rising to a shout. I know I should stay calm...but "Sora, please!" I can't just let them die...

"Okay...here Maleficent, now let them go!" I watch the artifacts slide across the floor. I let out a huge sigh. My parents are going to be okay. Still, I hold Tommy tighter. She's picking them up now. I hate that she's smiling, but I guess if I get my parents back. She makes a small nod to the Heartless around my parents.

[3]"Mom! Dad!" My world crashes. She killed them. We gave her what she...Mom...Dad...they're gone...she killed them! They're...gone...Tommy, how is...ack! He's gone! Why am I holding a Heartless?! I fling the monster away. She was never going to let me have my family back. She's taken everything from me. My family's dead...because of her! "You witch!" I fling my Key blade at her. Why does she always have to move?! "You've taken everything from me!" She reappears. I chase after. I can't believe everything that's happened. She's taken everything. I lash my Keyblade out at her. "I did nothing to you and you killed them! They were innocent people." Even as I let out my anger I can feel tears forming. With just one more strike have her knocked down. What? She ...looks...scared. Her face is...like my parents' faces were. My parents who I never got to say goodbye to...my parents that I loved...my parents whose bodies are...just there now...because they're gone...because of her. She doesn't deserve to be scared! The little bit of compassion I had for her is gone. This is for Mom and Da...

* * *

[4]"Mom! Dad!" I can only stand and watch as Logan's adoptive parents are killed. Maleficent lied to us...whoa...what the...his brother is...a Heartless.

"Logan wait!" I don't think he heard what Aqua said. Everything's happening so fast. I have to help him. Those Heartless are going to get him and I won't let that happen. With my Keyblade ready I charge into the bunch of monsters.

"Hey Sora don't leave me behind!" I look over to see Roxas jumping in to help me.

"Don't forget 'bout us!" Ven leads the others into the mass of Heartless. I can't see Logan anymore. I have to focus on these Heartless. There are bunch of them. I keep looking for Logan, but no matter how many Heartless I hit, I can't find him. I hit a couple more and I use a couple of magic attacks too.

"Light!" I send out these shockwaves of light around me that take out a huge group of Heartless. Once the light fades, most of the Heartless are gone, okay make that all of the Heartless with Ven's last kill. Where's Log… "Logan!" I run toward his blank and emotionless form. Maleficent is right next to him. And so are the bodies of his parents. "What did you do to him?!" I point my Keyblade at her pale green face.

[5]"I've done nothing. That monster attacked me." I almost feel bad for her, but not after everything she's done. I'm not even sure she can move after what Logan did to her.

"You're the monster!" Aqua comes up behind me.

"What happened to Logan?" I look back to see Roxas kneeling beside Logan. His face his completely emotionless.

"I don't know…he doesn't look hurt?" Ven looks him over.

"So what's happened to him then?" I keep one eye on Maleficent as everyone slowly gathers around our friend.

[6]"I believe that I may be of assistance." I turn to the source of the voice. There three puffs of smoke appear, two gray and one blue. As they vanish, I can see Master Yen Sid and Merlin standing. Beside them are a whole group of brooms from the Castle.

"There she is." Merlin points forward toward Maleficent's body. The brooms are there pretty soon after.

"Master Yen Sid…what…what happened to Logan? And why are his parents dead…shouldn't they have become Heartless…" Terra's words make sense, but I'm not sure what to do with them.

"That has to do with this place. In the Realm of Light, the people do not have Hearts of that nature. The Soul serves the purpose of the Heart, but unlike Nobodies in our realm, these people never had hearts to begin with, which means that there was nothing for the Heartless to steal from them. This led to the unfortunate fate that befell these people." I look between Merlin and Logan's parents.

"But…then what happened to Logan, he doesn't look hurt." Roxas asks as Ven and Van try to get Logan to wake up.

"That boy's heart has fallen asleep."

"What does that mean?" The question just spills out of my mouth.

"You see when a heart experiences great trauma, in an attempt to protect itself, the heart enters a period of sleep. That is what has happened to Logan's heart. The deaths of his parents likely caused his heart to go into sleep." As Merlin finishes I lean down to Logan. I can see him breathing, but…I don't know. What am I supposed to do?

"Will…will he ever wake up?" I almost can't handle the thought of it. After all we have been through I can't just let him stay this way forever.

"It is difficult to say. In this state the heart is protected, however it is difficult to reach."

"There is one way that his heart may awaken. Keyblade Masters have the ability to manipulate the hearts of others, but a sleeping heart is the most difficult of hearts to enter."

"Sora only you can enter Logan's heart." I look up to Yen Sid.

"Wha…what about any of the others? They're better at this sort of thing than me."

"You and Logan share a bond deeper and stronger than any of the others."

"But Merlin, I've only known him for a little while. How am I supposed to know what to do in his heart?" Why is Yen Sid nodding to him?

"Sora, we had little intention of telling you this, but given the circumstances…Logan…is your brother."

A/N: Alright, show of hands, how many of you knew it before I said it? Either way, please review!


	29. Brothers?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney or another property mentioned herein.**

A/N: Alrighty, so that little plot point is taken care of, so now what? Don't worry there is plenty more what left in this story! Sorry that it took so long to get this written. I've had so much homework to do that it's not even ridiculous. Anyway enough about my life, here we go for the rest of the story. Logan likes to go unconscious doesn't he? Oh well, hopefully Sora knows how to wake him back up! Please read and review! Thanks! And special thanks to Narwhalsrsmexy for her reviews! I'm glad you liked the music! And I hoped you'd like that last chapter!

* * *

Chapter XXIX: Brothers?

"What?! You can't be serious…I don't have a brother…my parents haven't…"

"Sora, what we say to you is the truth. Logan is your older twin brother. At around the age of three, just before the princess was brought to your world, we took your brother away to this world. We saw that something was transpiring, and this was the sole option."

"Your parents presumed that he had died through some manner or other, and they did not tell you about him. It was early enough in your life that your memories could be overridden by new ones." I look down over to Logan's still motionless form. Even after all of this, he looks strangely peaceful.

"Your life progressed without any side-effects. Once made aware of the circumstances beginning to be set in motion, we brought you and the others to this world to help him." I don't take my eyes off him, but Yen Sid's words are sorta sinking in.

"So you weren't going to tell me about my twin brother?!" I spin around to stare at them both.

"There was not a need. After this journey was complete, his life was supposed to return to normal and you were all supposed to return home. However, with the present circumstances I do not believe that normal will be possible for him." I kneel down beside Lo…my…brother…twin brother, as Merlin finishes.

"See Sora, I told you! I knew it!"

"Kinda not the time Ven, but yeah you were right." I manage a little smile despite everything. I watch Logan for a minute. He's breathing, which I guess is a good thing, given other possibilities, but I still have no idea what I'm going to do. "So what uh…"

"You must enter his heart in the same manner as other worlds. As the two of you share a connection of this caliber, his heart will allow you to enter. There you must find what it is that caused his heart to enter this state. From there you should be able to release it and cause him to awake." I stand up and nod without looking to Yen Sid. I take a few steps back from Logan and take out my Keyblade. With a look toward the others, I hold up the Keyblade toward Logan's still form. Hunh…it's actually doing something. A Keyhole's appeared and the Keyblade is unlocking it…whoa!

* * *

That was really weird. It felt like something stretched out my body and then dragged me along after. Weird. Why am I always falling toward things like these? Anyway, I'm definitely in the right place…I think. I mean there's one of those stained glass things below me and it looks as though that's Logan on it. In the glass I mean. The strange thing is though, there's someone else too, on the other side. I've never seen him before.

My feet are the first thing to touch down on the glass. There's nothing but blackness around me. The only light is coming from the glass itself. Well…actually…now that I look at it…there is this other…light. I take a couple of steps closer to it. Okay, just move away then! It's headed for the edge. Hmn…it's…a staircase? And now there's another of these platforms. I hope to find something up there, so I start heading that way. Whew…made it, they were longer than they looked.

"Bout time you showed up." Wha…Logan? What happened to your voice? It sorta sounded like him, but, when I turn around it's not him. It's…that other guy from the glass…

"Who are you?" His face looks like Logan's, well I guess mine too, but…his hair is different and his clothes are mostly red and black. Why is he smirking at me?

"Oh Sora that hurts. You don't recognize your own brother?" Why is this thing still smiling?

"You're…not Logan…" I take a step back from this…person or thing or whatever he is.

"No, I'm not, but 'Logan,'" why'd he put air quotes around Logan? "isn't your brother either." What? But… "No, Logan's just what became of your brother, but I'm what your brother actually is. I'm what's in his heart." I really want to punch that smirk off this things face.

"Sora don't listen to him!" What?! More voices? I mean come on! I spin around to look at this new voice's person. It's…Logan…or at least the Logan in the glass. He's being held in the air. How'd I not notice him before? "He's not your brother or whatever he called himself! You have to trust me!" I don't know why, but I'm feeling like I should trust this guy more than that guy. And by that guy I mean the one on the glass with me.

"And here I thought I finally had you shut up." Why does he sigh like that? I don't get this guy. "Alright, fine, I'm the darkness in your brother's heart. When he finally caved in, I was able to trap that part of his heart away." Gahhh…that smirk! I'm gonna kill him!

"You're a real piece of work you know that!" The one above me shouts down at him. This is so confusing.

"Wait…if…you're his…then who are you?" I turn to look at the person behind me.

"I'm Tobi…well I guess actually Logan, but still…anyway, I'm his memories of being your twin. After we were separated, Logan, whose real name is Tobi by the way, his memories of those years took shape as me. I'm him if he hadn't been taken from the Islands, so I guess, I'm sort of your real brother." Wagh! I stumble down. I managed to move just before that other one got to me. He's coming at me with a Keyblade! Watch out! Jeez, this guy's fast, and no offense, but way better than Logan. Yikes! Man, I can't seem to keep track of him. Every few seconds he moves! It's almost like fighting…Vanitas used to. Ha! I managed to get a good hit on him! Here we go, I've got this. I get a bunch of quick hits on him now.

"Not bad, but just you wait."

My eyes widen as I slide under the massive light wave he just sent out at me. He fast, but I'm still keeping away from him. He must be getting desperate because these attacks are getting more dangerous. They're sloppy though now. Okay, now's a problem. We've gotten into…a…argh…full on…Keyblade lock. Agh, wow, he's strong. Come on Sora…get back up, push back…alright that's not working. I let myself fall to the ground and sweep out his feet. It worked!

"Take that!" I push my Keyblade toward his throat pinning him to the ground.

"Should've killed me when you had the…chance!" Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! He used the same move on me. Gotta get up. Hurry…get up! Let's go! I swing my Keyblade out from under me. I rush toward him. I've got to get rid of this thing. It's the only way to save him. You can do it Sora. I swing my blade forward and let it fly toward him. It worked! It got him coming back too! Eww…he's started groaning and saying something I can't understand. Why don't these things ever just die? His body is…wow…it's being consumed by light, weird. I turn as I hear feet touch down on the ground.

"You did it!" I look at…Tobi, right? Whoa, his body is start to get taken over by light too… "He must be waking up. Thanks Sora." He smiles just as his body totally vanishes. What are…those? Both of them left something behind. They look like the same thing, but mirrored pieces. One's red and the other blue…They look like halves of a heart. I wonder if…I bring the two pieces together. Wow, that was bright. There was this flash of purplish light from the pieces. It sort of faded away now, but they aren't two pieces anymore. I still have two things in my hands, but they're complete hearts now. Each has a red half and a blue half, and a chain attached to them. Are they…Keychains? They have the little loops and everything. Let's see, I clip one of them onto my Keyblade. Wow! Now that's a cool Keyblade! It looks sort of like that weapon I had to give all that stuff to Moogles for at the end of my adventure with Organization XIII. You know the one with all of the shapes and lines around it. These lines are blue and red too and they wrap around the whole Keyblade. They look like glass, which is cool.

* * *

Wow, I'm back...

"Ah good Sora, you made it back. Logan is just beginning to wake."

"That's great Merlin." I offer him a smile, "But, his name isn't Logan, is it?"

"Well…uh…no…no it's not. At least not if you are talking about his real name. The one your parents gave him. No, that would be Tobi if I remember correctly." I love how Merlin always seems a bit scatterbrained even though I know he really has everything put together in his head. Oop, he's sitting up.

"Tobi! You're awake!" I rush over to be beside him.

"Wow, Sora, I thought I was the one in trouble, but I guess not."

"No Logan, neither of you are crazy in this case. I guess that's your real name." Roxas steps up to be near us.

"Okay, I'm not even going to pretend. What's going on? Did I fall and hit my head or something?" Tobi/Logan stands up with a confused look.

"I imagine we'll have to help with that." Yen Sid gives a kind and welcoming smile as everyone collects near Tobi.

* * *

A/N: There we go, that brings everyone up to speed now, and hooray Logan or I guess Tobi's awake! Maybe he'll faint less :D Anyway, please review! Thanks!


	30. Keychains and Confusion

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney. Wish I did, but I don't, so don't sue me, please.**

A/N: Sorry that it's taken me so long to update this story. I was gone on vacation for a little bit plus finals are soon. Point being I've been busy, but I've finished this chapter! It's a little bit of filler, but the story needs it to move on, so I promise that there will be more in the next chapter. I hope you like it and please leave reviews! Thanks!

Thanks to **Megzarie **(I didn't want to tell you when you first mentioned it, but now you know!) and** Narwhalsrsmexy **for their reviews and thanks to **Seraphicfox2515** for all of her suggestions!

* * *

Part XXX: Keychains and Confusion

"So…we're…brothers…" Yen Sid just got done trying to explain it all to me, but I'm having trouble making sense of this all. I guess Sora would be an awesome brother to have, but…hmm…

"Yep, cool huh?" I'm glad that Sora can still smile given the circumstances.

"Yeah sorta, but uh…" I look over my shoulder to…my parents. The bodies are still there, but I haven't gone over, and I don't plan to. I…I don't know…I'll…I'll figure out something.

"Hey, look what I found. I think one of them is for you!" I turn back to Sora. He has this weird thing in his hand. It's kind of like a heart, but it looks like one of those stupid keychains that we've found. That one from the pyramid was pointless, I'm not even sure if I have that thing anymore. I may have gone and given it to one of those shopkeepers…oh well.

"Oh…thanks…" I leave it in his hand for a while.

"Don't worry, look, it makes a cool Keyblade unlike that one from the pyramid." Wow, that is a cool Key, at least if this one does the same thing.

"Where did you get this?" I flip the heart over in my hand a couple of times. It's almost like stained glass with a red half and a blue half.

"I found them when I was trying to rescue you." Sora's smile is huge. I nod before calling out my own Keyblade and attaching the new chain to the end. As that bright light fades, my blade looks a lot like Sora's, except where his is red, mine is blue and where mine's red, his is blue. Wow, this is a lot heavier than the others. Man, no wonder people don't go adventuring very often, it's tough stuff.

"Can I see it?" I turn to Ven who's been standing with the others. I didn't think he was even paying attention, not that it matters or anything. I look at Sora. Well, I guess that shrug meant sure.

"Okay, here Ven!" I toss the small object toward him. That's weird.

"Huh, it doesn't do anything to mine." Ven tries it a couple of more times, but nothing happens.

"Here, lemme see." That Vanitas, well I guess Van, kid sticks his hand out for the chain. That must be just how he is, since Ven just gives it to him. "Nothing."

"Did you go and break it?" Roxas steals it from Van's Keyblade. "Okay, maybe not then."

"I believe I have a solution. Because that item was forged in Tobi's heart by Sora, it appears that only they are able to access its power." I like the way this Yen Sid talks. It's cool, not that I can understand what he's saying, at least at first.

"So what are we going to do now? We have most of the artifacts, and Xehanort…" I take one last look at my parents' bodies. I…I can't believe they're gone. I need to…I need to keep going.

"I don't know Aqua…I'm not sure where we've got to go." I look to the floor for a second to try and gather my thoughts. It's the hanging gardens, but I don't know where they were. If I remember right, it hasn't even been found yet, so I don't know.

"Where're we going?"

"I don't know where the thing is!"

"I meant what are we looking for?" Oh, I guess I shouldn't have yelled at him for that then since he wasn't around for that.

"Sorry, Vanitas, I'm just…it's just…well…"

"Come on, where are we going?"

"The Hanging Gardens of Babylon."

"Which were…" okay, this is a bit annoying. I don't need to be walked through a conversation.

"One of the wonders, but this one hasn't been found. Babylon was in Iraq." I can't believe they're gone. Just like that…

"Can you find out anything else about it? Logan? Logan…are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, um…yeah…yeah I'll be okay. What did you say?" I look back to Ven rather than the floor.

"Can you find out anything else about it?" I actually pay attention this time.

"Well…all my stuff is back on the other side of all that water…"

"Oh, well let me take care of that!" What's he…that was weird. What did he do? Wow, we're back on the other side. "Here you are."

"Um…thank…you…" I lean down to my backpack, which is now right at my feet. Let's see, book, paper, plane tickets, blah…blah…ah, here it is my phone. Cool, it gets 3G even under here. "Okay, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon…may be purely legendary. Awesome…"

"So, what are we supposed to go looking for if it's a legend?" I can't tell if that's Ven or Roxas in this light.

"Well, hold on just a sec…uh…Ven…"

"Nope, it's Roxas."

"Sorry…anyway, it says nothing about it has been found, but there is this theory or person thing that says it might be under the river. I guess it's moved a lot since then, and I guess most of one side of the city hasn't been found. That might be our best bet." I use the little bit of light from my phone to look at everyone.

"So, let's go!" Terra turns to leave. I guess we're going then.

"It seems as though you are well on your way. Good luck, the worlds rest upon your shoulders." Okay, so Yen Sid might talk cool, but he's not good with the whole motivation thing.

* * *

A/N: So? Did you like it? Leave me a review if you did! Thanks!


	31. Hunting Legends

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Kingdom Hearts nor Disney, and I don't think I ever will.**

A/N: Alrighty, so now we're set up for the final battle, the last wonder. It's going to be a tough one though. Tobi/Logan's without his parents, he's got a new brother, and the world is hanging on the edge. Anything that hasn't fallen apart yet, probably will, but you'll just have to keep reading to find out! :D I do hope you like this, granted filler, chapter! I have lots of ideas about the Hanging Gardens that should make them very legend worthy and well worth a good read! Thanks for reading!

By the way, thanks to **Narwhalsrsmexy** for her continued support for this story and being my major source of continued enthusiasm for this story!

* * *

Part XXXII: Hunting Legends

"Hey Logan, are you sure you're going to be okay? I mean after what just happened and all?" I turn to Ven who's walked up beside me. What should I say to him? I mean I'll be okay eventually, but well I don't know. They, my parents that is, would want me to do this. I know that, but…

"Yeah, Ven. I'll be alright. It's…just going to take some getting used to. The whole idea of it that is."

"Are you sure Logan?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Aqua..thanks!" I muster up as much of a smile as I can. When she smiles back, I can see she has a really pretty smile. No wonder Terra likes her. I know random, but I'm still trying to keep my mind off it.

"So, Tobi where is this last wonder. I know you said I…rec or something like that, but where is that…from here." Who is Sora…oh wait…yeah…he means me. That'll take a lot of getting used to I guess.

"Okay, first let's stick to one name for me, at least for right now. I don't need to be confused any more than I am, if that's possible. Second, Iraq is a country pretty much next door to us. We're about a thousand miles from it, so that's what…"

"About an hour and a half."

"Thanks Roxas. So, that's about an hour and a half until we reach Babylon, or the part they've found. Then we have to go about actually finding the thing." I sling my backpack over my shoulder.

"So, what name do you want us to call you?"

"Really Sora? That's the question you have after that?" I chuckle and sigh before giving my brother a real answer, "I don't know…um…uh…well…I guess…probably Tobi, I guess. I…really don't have a life here… anymore…" This time I sigh for real, "so, it's best to leave behind what little I have."

"Are you sure about that?"

"…I think so Aqua. I think this will be the best way for me to cope. Now, can we just go and stop talking about all of this stuff. It's way too gloomy!" I try to smile, but I bet that it looks as fake as it feels.

"Does this mean that you're going to come back and live with us after all of this?"

"Yes Ven. I think it does." I can't help myself from laughing and really smiling. Too bad it stops just as fast. "We need to get going. The longer we wait, the harder this will be." I wait for the others to respond, but all I get are nods. Still, that'll do. With a nod back, I throw my Keyblade into the air. A moment later, I watch the others all fly into the air from behind me. Here mine comes. As it slows, I jump on and lock my feet into the boot holders. I check to make sure the others are ready and then kick my glider into an ascent.

* * *

"Where are we now?" I can barely hear Roxas even though he's right next to me.

"Yeah, look at that city down there…it's huge!"

"That, Sora, I think, is Tel Aviv. It's part of Israel. We're getting closer." I shout to make sure he can hear me. I doubt Aqua and Terra did though because they're hanging pretty far back.

"Are all cities in this world that big? And bright?"

"A lot of them. Plus, the lights help us see through the dark." Sunset was a little while ago, so it's getting harder to see. "Only problem is, I don't think there are many more between here and there, so we're going to be relying a lot on hope soon."

"Perfect." Wow, it is dark, I can't even see Van's hair. I wonder if he's always that sarcastic.

"The lights are so pretty." Aqua must really be shouting now.

"Remind me to take you guys over Europe on our way home! You'll be in for a big treat then!"

* * *

We've been travelling now for almost an hour I think. I'm not sure how much farther we actually have to go, but I bet we're getting close. I haven't seen any big clusters of lights since a spot that I imagine was Jerusalem. At least I think it probably was.

"How are we going to know when we get there? It's way too dark to see anything."

"I don't know…exactly, Terra."

"WHAT?!"

"Okay, Sora I know you had to shout for me to hear you, but give me just a sec. I was gonna say that I have an idea. My phone's map can tell us about where we are. From there maybe I can find out where we have to go." I hold up the phone and model it for my brother even though he probably can't see it. "If we just slow down for a sec, I can find out where we are." We do just as I ask, and I start look for where in the world we actually are. Wow, this is taking a while…okay, here we go. "It says we're in Iraq, but just barely. We've got probably thirty minutes left. Keep going straight." I slide my phone back into my pocket and point forward.

"Alright!...Then what?" I look over to Ven who's next to Sora.

"Well…we get under the river…somehow…"

"Oh well that's simple." I would've scowled at Van, but I think I would've said the same thing too.

* * *

That next half hour of travel passes wicked quick. We've been talking mostly, but not about anything important. There haven't been any real lights under us this whole time, which has been a bit problematic, but I think we're almost there. I slow down to try and check where we are. Sometimes I wish the desert had better reception. Come on…let's go…trying to save the world…ugh…this thing is so slow here. Finally! Okay, it's almost right below us…

"Okay guys. Start looking for some lights. We should be right near it." I look around, but I don't see much of anything.

"Like that?" I try to stop, but these things move fast. I have to wrench myself around to see where Aqua's pointing. I can just see a set of little lights along the horizon. It's not much, I mean we have more light in Maine, which is pretty rural. It's our best shot though.

"Worth a shot." I start my glider off in the direction of the lights. This is definitely it. It's a small city, smaller than Portland, sorry…I'll stop with the Maine references, anyway, it's not that big, but I can see some of the ruins in the lights. "This is it guys." I kick my glider down into a steep descent. With about ten feet left, I jump off and land in the soft sand. I hear other landings just behind me.

"Now what?"

"We find a legend."

* * *

A/N: That's helpful Tobi…

T/N: Hey! I was trying to be dramatic like you told me to! Besides I'm supposed to be the sarcastic one!

A/N: I also told you to stay in the story, didn't I, but look who didn't do that.

T/N: You know what, without me this story wouldn't go anywhere, so :P

A/N: *Sigh* I'm going to let you have this one just because I don't want to argue with you. Anyway, please review (It helps keep him quiet)!

T/N: Hey!


	32. Puzzling Nightmares

**Disclaimer: By now you should know who owns Kingdom Hearts and that it's not me.**

A/N: Sorry that it took me so long to get this new chapter up, but I've made up for it by making this one super long! It's about twice the length of a normal chapter. This bit does a lot of things, so I'm not going to ruin it for you. I hope you like it and please leave some reviews so I can know what you think about it! Thanks!

**Narwhalsrsmexy: **No problem! :D

* * *

Chapter XXXII: Puzzling Nightmares

We decided to wait until the Sun came back up before searching the ruins. It was so dark when we actually got back that it wouldn't do us any good to start looking. The others aren't awake yet, but I've been waking up every few hours, so I just gave up. Every time I closed my eyes…all I could see…were my parents, lying there, nothing left…eyes wide…petrified…No matter what I tried, I couldn't get them out of my head. It was so scary. The scene kept playing over and over again as I stood there watching them die. Seeing again and again as I did nothing. I kept waking up like it was a nightmare, but as soon as I can think again, I know it was real. I know they're dead…and they're not coming back.

"It's not your fault you know." Who just….

"Sora? How did you..."

"That whole twin thing, you know we share thoughts and stuff like that, plus I heard you last night. You were saying Mom and Dad every so often." My brother sits down beside me on the still warm sand. His smile though doesn't make me feel any better.

"But Sora…I just stood there and watched them be…killed…" Come on Logan, don't cry now. Especially in front of Sora.

"Tobi…" right, I have start remembering that, "you didn't though. If you had tried to go after them, you'd be the one dead. Maleficent is an evil…thing. Nothing you could have done would have saved them."

"When did you become so deep?" It's so hard to even try to make him laugh now. I know that the smile I have looks so fake, so blank.

"Hey, just because I act stupid sometimes, doesn't mean I am!" That was the first time I actually laughed. "Look, the Sun's coming up." I look out to the horizon with Sora as the Sun comes up over the flat desert.

"We've got to find the Gardens then." I manage after a quick sigh.

"Right. This is it. We either save the world or die trying."

"Never thought of it that way, but you're right. We don't get a second chance. If we can't seal that Keyhole, it won't just be this world in trouble."

"Wanna practice a bit? Maybe get your mind off…everything." I look over at Sora and his Keyblade.

"Yeah…okay…you're on!" I jump up and take out my matching blade. He's been doing this for longer than I have, so I hope's not too tough on me. We stand opposite each other probably fifty feet away from the others. "Don't go easy on me now!" I hold my Keyblade off to the side while Sora drops into what I call his signature battle stance. The one where he gets really low to the ground and holds his blade near his chest.

"Don't worry about that!" Here he comes. I slide out from underneath his slash, and swing around behind him. I manage to attack back, but he blocks just as quick. "Ha! Told you I wasn't going to take it easy on you!" Wow, he's stronger than he looks. I spin away again. Man, I think I figured out why Sora spikes his hair. It stays out of his face that way. Geez, he's pretty quick too. Still, I've managed to evade every one of his attacks. The sand makes it tough to move quick. Every time I step, my feet dig in a little bit. I haven't gotten very close to him really. I've been defending more than anything.

"Come on Tobi! You can't just keep dancing around like that!"

"Hey it's not dancing!"

"I'm not saying that it's a bad thing." I duck under another of his attacks. "You're pretty agile, but you've got to attack sometimes!"

"Yeah Tobi, you're awesome at getting away but hit him!" I come to a stop as I hear the voice. Sora skids away his momentum through the sand.

"Sorry guys. Did we wake you up?" I look toward our spectators.

"Yes." I think Vanitas might be sleepwalking…err talking.

"Not really. Van's just a late sleeper." Ven rolls his eyes. Wow, that was quite the workout. Sora really got me sweating too. I must be getting better though because he's panting like I am. It used to be he'd just give me two seconds and then knock my Keyblade away.

"You almost had him!"

"Aw, come on Roxas, you should be on my side!"

"He was the underdog. I wanted him to win. Besides you've beaten me a bunch!" That'd be kinda cool to see, Sora and Roxas sparring. I haven't seen Roxas fight much, but Sora's told me he's really good. I guess that for another time though.

"I hate to ruin the moment, but we need to get looking for those Gardens." Aqua stands from her spot in the "audience." I put away my Keyblade and turn to the ruins.

"Somewhere in there then?" Terra joins Aqua. The others look over toward the cluster of buildings, well what used to be buildings.

"That's my best guess. But I have no idea where." I walk over and grab my bag. I doubt my phone will be any help here though.

"So we just start looking then?" I nod to Vanitas before taking a few steps to the ruins. The others start following behind me without saying anything. I think it's starting to settle in just how tough this is going to be. I've never fought this Xehanort person, I haven't really seen him other than just that first time. Even then, he seemed mostly like a creepy old man, so I'm not sure what he's capable of. The way he just deflected Terra's charge scares me though. I'm still learning how to fight, which I guess is clear, but anyway, so it's starting to make me very nervous. What if…no bad Tobi you need to focus. Not on something like that, but on what I need to do. I need to make sure that we don't fail. I need to make sure that my world doesn't fall into darkness.

"So now what?" Ven stops and looks down into one of the old buildings. I shrug and sort of gesture toward one of the rooms.

"At this point Ven, your guess is as good as mine." I jump down into the building's foundation. The others are right behind me. Slowly, we start working our way through the restructured ruins. Most of them are just walls made of mud and brick. With a careful step, I slide my feet through the sand to see if anything is underneath it. Nothing. Not even rocks, just more sand. That's all I can see around here. Just sand, sand and more sand! Gah! We're never going to find it in all of this! Okay, Tobi, just calm down. There's no point in getting yourself worked up. If all of those other places existed, then this one is bound to too. I just need to focus. Keep looking, it's going to be here.

"Tobi, what is it that we're looking for?" I turn to Ven who's come up beside of me.

"I don't know exactly…why?" I never understood how Ven gets his hair to do that. Sorry, off topic.

"Because I think I found something." The air rushes into my mouth for a second while I try to understand this, but then I get everything put back together.

"Uh…okay, where?" Following Ven's gesture, I realize how far off I was. I nod and he starts running that way. "Hey Sora! Ven's found something over here!" I hope he can hear me, but I don't wait to find out because I'm right behind Ven. Where is he taking me though? Man, he was a ways out there. We've gone like fifty yards before he actually stops. The others are still a ways away.

"Where're you going?" Vanitas is the first one to catch up to us, which is weird. I would've figured he'd be the last one.

"In here." Ven pushes against a wall with his shoulder and it actually moves! Well not much…it just barely drops back. "Ugh…it doesn't move anymore." His feet are just slipping along the sand. "Come on!"

"Here, Ven scoot to the side a bit." Stepping up beside him, I put my hands against stone slab and together we push against it. I fall forward a bit as the stone slips away. Still, I catch myself and the stone seems to pull itself away from us. I glance back to Ven. He's smiling and I match it just as everyone else finally get to us. The stone slab is totally moved away and there's a very dark passageway beyond. Like seriously, I can't see even two feet into this place.

"Do you think it's in there?"

"Well, usually the weird sliding door is a sign." Sora scowls at me. "Sorry, but if we're going to be brothers, you're gonna have to get used to my sarcasm. It's kinda my thing." I offer him one of our classic smiles.

"I can deal with sarcasm, but I thought it was going to be just him," he's point over to Vanitas, "Not you too!"

"Heh, it's about time we got someone funny." Was he talking about me? Ah, yep, judging by the way everyone just looked at him, I think so.

"Fine, yes Sora. I think it's in there." Sighing, I give Sora the answer he wanted. He just rolled his eyes at me! Well, I guess I would've done the same thing. Without saying anything else, he walks into the darkened room with us in tow.

The way my feet are sliding makes it seem like we're still on sand, but well, never mind because it just became stone again. The sand must have been from the wind. Not that it matters. Reaching out my hands helps a bit as I find out we're in narrow chamber that's maybe three feet wide. The wall doesn't feel smooth, but I have no way of getting my flashlight or phone out since Ven and Roxas are right behind me, pretty much pushing me forward. Oh well, probably just some ancient curse that _really_ doesn't matter much. Suddenly my arms aren't reaching the walls anymore.

"FIRE!" I follow Sora's fireball as it leaves the tip of his Key and rockets toward the ceiling. I nearly lose my balance as the thing crashes into what must be the roof. For whatever reason I duck as the sparks fall down, but unlike usual, the fire stayed lit. Not just lit, but it's…moving…along the sides of a dome. The whole thing is wrapped by these trenches of fire. I can see really well now, but there isn't much here. It just a plain dome, no carvings, nothing really. Minus the fire trenches, the whole thing is made of flat surfaces.

"Tobi, what happened to your clothes...and hair?" What is Terra talkin...my clothes are different. Not just a little, but a lot...my whole outfit is different. I've never seen these clothes before. What was that about my hair? I run my hands up into my hair...it's spiked up, all on its own, no gel or anything. I didn't do anything to either of them. My clothes are all blue and white now. I have this blue t-shirt with a hood and this a little longer white shirt underneath. There's this belt that split down along my right leg. It says something, but I can't really read it. Speaking of, my pants are now white with blue pieces over the top below my knees. How did I not feel this happen?

"Yeah...your hair kinda looks like mine mixed with Sora's." Does it really stick up as much as Ven's? Well, I guess maybe. I need a mirror, but maybe another time.

"I don't remember any of this happening..."

"You look just like you did in your heart. The person said that he was the memories of when we were young. Maybe that's what you'd look like if you had always lived with us."

"Huh…well…I feel like I should be more confused about this, but eh…go with the flow I guess." I twist around so that I can see all of my new clothes. Well, I guess I'll fit in back "home" now.

"Yeah cool, but giant dome with burning walls here." Wow, didn't mean to make Vanitas mad, but he's right, more important things to do.

"Where do we go from here though? We're in the only exit." I spin around again to look at Aqua, who has a bit of a point.

"This has to be it though. I mean what else has these torches." Roxas basically speaks my thoughts.

"Well then there has to be something." I walk further into the room so that I can try and find something. Whoa! Things just went totally white almost like an explosion just went off. Slowly it starts to clear. It's just like when we were in that clock-thing and in the other wonder. This time though, we're all together. There's nothing out in front of us though. It looks like everything is swirling around behind us.

"One of these again." Vanitas scoffs. He wasn't too pleased with the last two of these things that we had to do. But I don't see anything still.

"But where is it? I don't see anything here." Aqua walks toward the edge of this little area we're on. What's she doing? She looks like she's going to walk out there.

"Aqua, what are you doing?" Ven seems to be just as confused as I am. Whoa…look at that! A whole set of square platforms just appeared out of nowhere. There are so many of them! They go in every direction.

"There?" I follow Vanitas' gesture across this huge place. At the end there's something that's kinda like white and purple clouds at the end.

"Let's go." Terra steps to the first of the platforms. "Whoa…why is this shrinking?!" He jumps off to the next one. Ack…now that one's shrinking too. The first one's totally gone, so none of us can even get off here. Terra's out there alone.

"Terra! Run for the end!" Aqua's voice is shaky and shouty. Thankfully, he does just that and bolts for the other end. Whew, he made it. Only problem is that we can't make it to him. We gesture toward the strange cloud thing. He has his back turned toward us…ugh. I hate when everything turns white. Especially when it moves us all around again. We're not together this time, but I can see everyone. Out in front of us is the same board, or at least that's what it looks like to me, but now there are seven different colored crystals floating out above the platforms. They're placed in sort of random places, but then so are we. How could they have built all of this?

"That was weird." Spinning a bit, I realize that Sora's not too far away from me. Something is strange about the platform he's standing on. It's vibrant red, unlike the other sort of dull red. Ven's directly across from me and his is green. Are these all different colors? Yep, mine's blue, Aqua's purple, Terra's a weirdish blue-purple, Vanitas' is yellow, and Roxas' orange.

"Hey guys, those crystals are the same colors as the things we're standing on. I bet we have to get them." Roxas is right, we each have a matching crystal color. The only problem is these tiles vanish as soon as we step on them. How are we going to do this? It's our only way out of this place, wherever we actually are. I'm not sure how many chances we have to do this either.

"Be careful." I do as Aqua says and I watch my feet with every step. As soon as I take a step, it begins to shrink. I need to move quick, but I need to watch where I'm going. There's my crystal. It's only ten feet away. Almost there. Got it! Wow, this one isn't shrinking. I'm gonna wait here for some of the others. There goes Ven, and Sora, and Roxas. They got there! That's four. "Our turn." Aqua and the others start forward. That's Aqua. Uh oh…Vanitas' is really shrinking. Crap…everything went white again.

It fades, but we're all separated again. And the crystals are scattered again.

"My fault." At least Vanitas is in the same place as last time, so maybe we can figure out a plan.

"How are we going to do this?" Sora starts what's bound to be a long planning session.

"What if we try one at a time?"

"But what about that last person Roxas? It'll tough for them." Ven has a point. We toss a bunch of ideas back and forth. Some of them sound smart and others, well, others didn't. Thankfully, when we tried some of the failed ideas, it just put us back. I'm not sure how, but it did. It's been about twelve tries so far.

"Come on. We can do it this time!" I hope Ven's right. Here we go. Roxas and I go at the same time with Sora and Aqua not far behind. Vanitas, Terra and Ven, with Ven having to jump over Terra, going last. Roxas and I are at the cloud. Here's Ven and Sora. Vanitas, then Terra and Aqua with her purple crystal last.

"We did it!" Each of us holds up the crystals, which are weirdly floating above our hands. The cloud thing near us evaporates away and in its place is a portal. At least I think it is. I can see back into the room we were in before all of this started anyway. We all look at each other before Vanitas goes through first, us in tow.

Wow, the little hairs on my arms are standing up. It must be from the temperature. It was kinda cold where we were, but these fires have made this room…whoa, what is that?

* * *

A/N: Well what is it? I guess we'll just have to wait until next time to find out! Please review! Thanks!


	33. Before the Storm

**Disclaimer: Square Enix and Disney own Kingdom Hearts. Can I stop writing that now?**

A/N: Sorry everyone that this chapter took me so long to write. School got in the way, and then I had a whopping case of writer's block. I couldn't decide how complicated I wanted to make this area without it being redundant. Don't worry though, if you don't like the pacing in this chapter, I can reveal that this will be like that last part of KHII after you beat Saix, you know, the part where everything starts to really fall together and the final battle is coming? Right, that's coming up next, I promise, so if you've been waiting for that, it's coming. Anyway, I hope you like this! Please leave me some reviews too because I want to know what you all have to say. It's really difficult for me to know what works and what doesn't from here. I know a lot of the other parts of the story that you don't, which means it could be really confusing. Please let me know about things like that! If you don't tell me, I can't help fix them. Thanks!

* * *

Part XXXIII: Before the Storm

"What are those things?" I do the same thing as Roxas and scan the room. It is definitely the same room as it was before, but there are these six pedestals in a circle in front of us. They have these super ornate patterns on them…and they all look to be made of marble too. The strange thing is that the pattern is different on every one. I can't really explain them all that well because the fire's making some wicked bad shadow on them. Sora's the first one to even take a step forward. Each of us go to a different one of the pedestals…well except Vanitas…who doesn't have one, but I doubt he cares. Anyway…there's this well in the top of it. I wonder what this was used for…and there's sand all over it too. I run my hand along the well's beveled edge…it's not a perfect circle either…what is this thing…? I spin around to a loud chunk from Terra's direction.

"Vanitas…what did you do…" I stare at him and the…piece of marble in his hand.

"Watch." He slides me out of the way and drops that piece into the well of my pedestal…a perfect match…whoa! This bright light just shot out from it. And now…there's an opening in the wall. It's really narrow, but I can't see too far dow…never mind the fire just lit it up. It's not very deep and something is at the end. Terra's already started down there. Aqua follows him.

"There's nothing here. Load a good that did us."

"Just wait a minute Terra. You have to look at things more closely."

"But, Aqua, we need to figure this…"

"Ice." Her voice is surprisingly calm. I watch the crystal move forward and crash into the wall. "See?" I didn't, so I have no idea what she's talking about. Oh wait, here they come. Aqua's carrying what looks to be another chunk of marble. It doesn't look like the one he had, but… "I bet this will fit in another of the pedestals." I nod and watch as she goes to look for it. She drops it right into Sora's. Perfect fit! It opens up another area apart from us.

"This should be it!" I drop the chunk of marble into Terra's. Whoa, ground shaking this time….dang it…I fell over. At least Sora did too. And there went Ven…and Roxas. We help each other up. Found out what caused the shaking. A huge section of wall just disappeared. The light doesn't go into this area this time. I look to the others. With a couple of shrugs, Sora and I are the first ones to go in.

This room is totally dark. I can't even make out Sora, who I know is only a foot away. There's a little light near the opening…never mind, it just closed up. Whoa, a spark just jumped passed me. There's another one! They're…all collecting above us.

"It's a Keyhole." Vanitas' right, the sparks have all come together to make a Keyhole out of blue flames.

"I've got this." I can see again from the light of Sora's Keyblade. I hear the tumblers clunk into place. The whole place fills with bright white light. I wish it'd stop doing that! I'm gonna go blind by the time I'm nineteen at this rate! Okay, it's starting to clear n…whoa…

"Look at that…" I should respond to Roxas, but just…wow…this place…amazing just doesn't work. The air in here tastes so sweet, and it's so light. You'd never be able to tell that it's been down here for centuries. You don't care about the air though, right…this thing…for lack of a better word, is well…in front of us is a massive series of steps and troughs and buildings all made of marble. It looks like…something I've never seen before. I've seen a lot of paintings of what ancient Greece used to look like, sort of like in the "School of Athens" painting, but this is even better. I can hear the faint sound of water gurgling. But that doesn't make a lot of sense, we're under a desert…

"Guys, this is…huge…look at it all." Sora's further in front of me, so I should…oh wow…it's even bigger and more amazing than I thought.

"I don't think hanging is the right word…floating is better…" I can barely even feel those words leaving my own mouth. It's just too amazing. There are whole gardens just floating in the air, no wires or anything! And the water is coming from waterfalls from each of those gardens. It's the bluest I've ever seen! The flowers down here are amazing too. They have some of the most vivid and deep colors. Blues, oranges, purples and colors I can't even describe are all there! It's a sight to behold that's for sure.

"It's almost perfectly intact down here." Aqua's blue hair shows up in the corner of my eye, but I'm still trying to take this all in. This is beyond amazing.

"It doesn't look anything like the others." I've caught up to Sora now, but all that did was make it seem even bigger down here.

"The old fart said that this was the only one that actually mattered. Maybe it was built down here to stay hidden." Vanitas…Van, I have to work on that, is leaning against one of the pillars to the gardens on this level. What he said makes a bit of sense strangely.

"That makes sense. If this is the actual Keyhole to the world, then this would something they would hide." Man, Ven seems to think like me just as much as Sora does.

"The question is, where would that Keyhole be?" I try to scan the room, but nothing seems to come into view. Just look at this place. I can't get over it.

"I'm betting down there." Sora points down the row of gardens that head deeper and higher from us.

"Let's get going then."

* * *

A/N: Wow, sounds cool! But I think we all know what's waiting there for them… Please review! Thanks!


	34. The Wonder of a Wonder

**Disclaimer: I still do not own a single thing related to Kingdom Hearts.**

A/N: This is it, the last wonder. Somewhere in here lies that last battle that will either save or destroy all of the worlds. Beyond this is a realm of chaotic souls and rampant emotions. With this last wonder comes another battle with Xehanort. But, they all have to get there first. I hope you all like it! Please review it too! Thanks!

By the way, thanks to **Narwhalsrsmexy** and **Xaccemflare** for their continued help and support! So here we go!

* * *

Part XXXIV: The Wonder of a Wonder

"No, like this Tobi. You jump and then flip back like this." This is getting annoying. I've watched Sora do this four times now. The Gardens lost a bit of their wonder when the first platform was out of my reach. He's trying to show me how to jump higher. Sure, he gets right up there. Fine, I'll give it one more try. After that, I say screw it and I'll use the glider no matter what happens to this place. Alright, here I go. Come on and jump. And here comes the part where I…land? What the? I did it. I actually did it! "See I told you you could do it!"

"Wow. That was so cool! I…I…wow. That really just worked!" Am I really on this thing? I stamp my foot on this section of garden. Yep, it's real. That was amazing. I just had to think about it. I saw myself moving through the air and then leaning back into the flip and then I landed. All in a second.

"Alright, come on then. We've got a long way to go." I watch Terra and the others do what I just did without any issue. I sigh, but other than that I don't object. Here we go. The others stay ahead of me, but Ven's nice enough to at least wait until I've gotten the hang of it.

We're about half way there, but there's something different about this ledge. Look, there's this opening between all of the flowers.

"Guys, check this out." Sora's already up to the next platform, but he can jump back. I point into the big garden. "Whatdya bet something's down there?"

"A lot. Come on." Van leads the way down into this strange corridor. I'm right behind him, or at least I think I am. It's super dark in here. That can't be good. Terra just walked through and this wall of light sealed the way behind us. Although, now there are torches that just lit up, so at least we can see, silver lining, right? Wow, there are walls of flowers living in here…they're so bright and colorful, but they've been sealed in here for centuries. How are they still alive? Some of them are bigger than I am, and some are bigger than me and Sora put together! Most of them are some shade of purple-ish black.

Not stopping to look at the scenery, Van keeps leading us through here. For the most part it's only been a big long hall. There are these holes up in the tops of the gardens that line both sides where water is rushing out of. Other than that, there's nothing. No markings or anything. But there has to be something in here.

"Dead end." I look at the huge room Van got us to. The walls are still blank.

"Maybe there's another door. Like the one into here?" I turn to Ven who's busy pushing on the immobile stone wall. I don't think we're going to find something like that here.

"Ven, why would they hide something here? You've already found the important bit. This is probably just where they trap you to die." Lovely thought Roxas, thanks.

"Looks like you were right, Roxas! Look out!" I roll away as this huge beast falls from the sky. Whoa, I can't regain my balance. Alright there we go.

"What is this thing?"

"Doesn't look like a Heartless or a Nobody." It has these tails that seem almost like fabric floating behind it. Remember that thing from Rhodes, well this thing is bigger, a lot bigger. It's fangs are easily the size of three Terras.

"Watch out!" Why did Van just shove me…crap. That's why. Wow, that claw was nearly the end of me. "There, we're even."

"Thanks!" I grab my Keyblade. Here we go. We spilt around the thing trying to draw its attention. Whoa! It just split into seven slightly smaller things. I've got this. I can do this. I back toward a corner with this thing following me. This is it. I jump up and flip backwards, but I make sure to kick my feet against the wall. I flip back over the monster. There, I landed on its back. Agh, I can't stand up well. It's jumping too much. I drive my blade into its flesh, but not much happens. Yeagh, whoa! Agh…come on get back up. My back is burning. I was slammed into the wall. Can't think about that now. I can't give up. My Keyblade is stuck in that things back. Come on, come back. Geez, without that there, it's moving really quick. "Fire!" Got him! Right in the…okay then, didn't do much. I've got to get back on it. I can't just jump on it though. I've got to get him back to the corner. It's my only shot. Here we go. It worked! Come on now. Stay up there. I get a good hit on it! This thing has to be almost…there! Got him! Ugh, it's dissolving. That's not pleasant.

"There, that wasn't so bad then." I join Aqua and the others near the center of the room.

"Some trap."

"Did you want to die Van?" I raise an eyebrow, hoping that he didn't.

"Not good." What's Terra...crap. All of those dark wisps are gathering together. Oh man, there's that thing again. Not the bunch of little ones either. I'm done with this thing. We've got a world to save this time, and I'm not going to let this monster get in our way.

"Sora!" I look over to my brother. With a quick nod, we clasp our hands.

"Right!" Here we go. "Light!" Whoa, what just happened? I'm still here! Something feels weird…my clothes, they're all…purple. And I've got two keyblades?! _Move._ Where'd that come from? Yipes, okay, do what the voice says. _Come on, together. _It sounds like…Sora. There he is. _ Follow me. _ His voice is so clear. Circling the monster, we come together at the back. _Up its back._ Why can I hear that? Whatever. _Drag your blades. _Got it. _Together._ Our hands wrap around each other, and he levers me over to the wall. _Stab it._ I lunge from the wall. My Key slices into the monsters back, just as Sora's goes from underneath. _Reach out._ Okay. Whoa, all of these lights appear around the monster. The white light hurts my eyes. Whatever. I can deal with it. _Now._ My fingers lace with his. Fire and light burst from the spots. Shearing their way into the beast, whatever just happened does a lot of damage. _Cross blades._ There's a loud clank as the metal clashes. Whoa. They both just lifted from my hands, Sora's too. _Be as one._ We connect our hands. More bright light reaches out. I can't even see what happens. Why do I suddenly feel…sick…I…can't breathe…

* * *

A/N: What happened?! XD Please review! Thanks!


	35. Beginning of the End

A/N: So...I guess I should say sorry for the unannounced month break that this story took. School sorta consumed all of my life and will to write. But that doesn't really matter because here it is, the next chapter! We are so close to the end that I'm betting you can all practically see it! Hopefully this chapter will build a few bridges to help you all understand what actually happened at the end of the last chapter too. Anyway, I'm gonna just let you get to reading it, so here you go! Please review! Thanks!

* * *

**Part XXXV - Beginning of the End**

"Tobi! Sora! Are you…" I…can't focus on…what they're saying. Breathe…come on…everything's so…blurry…I…can't even stand or focus. Everything hurts so bad. I can only make it up to my knees, and I still have to…put my hands on the ground. What happened? I felt so great…and…and we were…

"Tobi? Sora?" I think…that was Ven…but…wow, breathing really hurts. I want to respond, but I can't. What happened in that? Whoa, I feel like I can breathe all of a sudden. I still hurt, but I can sit up and not everything's blurry anymore. "Are you guys okay?" It was definitely Ven then. Sora's right across from me. His whole body's shaking, but I guess…yeah so is mine.

"How did you do that?" I tilt my head as I look at Sora.

"Aqua cast a cure spell on you." I don't turn to Ven at first.

"Oh, thanks, but no I meant, how did you speak so clearly during all of that?"

"Huh? Me? I didn't say anything. You were the ones issuing all the commands."

"What are you talking about? I didn't say anything…" We stare at each other. I really didn't say anything.

"Neither did I...but I heard you." Sora tilts his head, but he's still shaking like me.

"And I heard you…and that part at the end?" I turn my hands over and over searching for any clue.

"You guys completely destroyed that thing! It was really cool!" I look at Roxas with a really confused expression.

"But how did that all happen? I've never done anything like that before." I try to stand, but it still hurts way too much.

"I tried to go into one of my normal forms, but it just didn't work for some reason. Not that I'm complaining!" Agh, I bet that laugh hurt, yeah he just winced.

"Either way it was amazing!" Terra's voice comes from behind me.

"The result wasn't. I've never felt so awful." I place my hands on my knees still trying to build up the energy to stand again.

"I think that might be because of how powerful that form was. It took out a lot of your energy." C'mon stand, you can do it…whew I-I made it. I'm up. Now what did Aqua just say?

"What was that Aqua? Sorry, I was trying to focus." Thankfully she just smiles and repeats herself. "I guess that makes some sense, but wow that was awful."

"So we only use that when it gets really bad." Sora's standing now too.

"Right. Why do I get the feeling we're going to have to use it again soon?"

"It's only going to get worse."

"Thanks Van. You're a big help." I roll my eyes at him before smiling a bit.

"I don't sugar coat things. You should know that." He's right, he's never been that way before, so I don't know why I thought it'd be different.

"Anyway. Come on, let's get…" We all turn around at the sound. Whoa, a keyhole appeared up above us. Ven's got his Keyblade out and that bright beam shoots out toward it. A section of the wall in front of us gets covered in light before it disappears. It's now just a big empty hallway that's covered in darkness.

"Let's go." My brother doesn't even look at me or the others before heading down the new tunnel. I hope he's ready for this because I don't know that I am. Still, I follow with the others not far behind. Unlike before there are no torches here. Although, I bet I still have that flashlight in my bag somewhere…got it! Okay, this should help us out a bit. The walls are bare and the air is really cold. It really just seems like we're in a tunnel with nothing else. It's a bit creepy actually. Everything up to now has been really beautiful and ornate, but now, it's just bland and almost foreboding. Up ahead I can see that the tunnel opens. As soon as Sora steps in, these gemstones light up, and the darkness is thinned. They aren't very bright, but we can see everything in here. We all start walking in different directions.

"Look at this place…" I think what Ven's talking about is the ceiling. It's all stars. It looks like the sky when there aren't any other lights. The walls have intricate carvings between the pillars that hold up the domed roof. One of them looks like…that symbol on the Heartless. And that one was the one on the Nobodies that we fought…I've never seen those other five before though…they all look like hearts in one way or another, especially the one right in front of us…it looks like…the Heart on my Keyblade. Van's over by one of the ones I've never seen. It looks jagged and harsh. I wonder what these all mean.

"Dream eaters?" I spin around to look at Sora. He's standing between two of the symbols, the ones next to Van.

"What?" I step closer to him.

"This was on the DreamEaters that I fought. When I was in the Realm of Sleep with Riku." These two symbols do look a lot alike, except that one has bat wings across the middle and seems more menacing. That just leaves this last one. It looks like this heart with a big rip down the middle, it comes down to tip that looks almost like a pen.

"Then what are these other ones?" I look to Van's particularly.

"It's an Unversed symbol…" Van won't look at anything other than that one symbol, not even to us. His hand runs up and down the creases in the wall over and over again.

"What?" He turns to look at me.

"Unversed. Ask me later." He walks toward where the others are now, which is in front of the last one with the pen tip and the rip. I follow without another word.

"I've never seen this one before." Aqua sets her hand against it.

"Me neither." Ven.

"Nope" Van.

"I haven't either." Roxas.

"What is it?" Terra.

"Sora?" I look to my brother.

"Nope."

"Then what could it be?" I step closer. I spin around at several small "pings" behind me. Now there are six different pedestals lined in an arc pointing at the Heart directly in front of us, which is the one that I have on my Keyblade. They're made of white stone and have black veins – like marble. They're carved with vines that all come together to form a heart in the center. I walk closer. They each have this carving in the top. Each one is different. I don't know what they're supposed to…

"They're Keyblades." Sora's standing across from me now. I give him a confused look. "Look, here's the grip," he points to the base and then starts moving up the narrow part, "and then the teeth, here's where the keychain goes." I watch as he points to every part. They aren't like any Keyblade I've ever seen…or at least I don't think so.

"So we're out of luck. They don't look like any of ours." Roxas leans backs from us.

"Wait, Tobi, do you still have the Keychains from the other Wonders?"

"Uh…sure Aqua, I think I do…here's one of them," I hand the one from the Temple of Artemis to her, "Why?" She wraps her fingers around it the small little bow and arrow.

"Everything so far has been connected. Everything has needed to fit together. So, Keyblades from the Wonders would make the most sense."

"I guess." I'm still not sure where she's going with this. Wait…"So you're saying that these Keychains make the Keyblades that'll fit here?" She nods, and with a bright flash, takes out her Keyblade. She switches out the Keychains. Another light and her Key changes into a much shorter one with an arrow tip at the top and then three smaller arrowheads for the blade. The hilt is curved like a bow. It matches perfectly the one in two from the left. I watch as she sets her Key into the crevice. The whole pedestal glows now with a faint blue light. I look at the others before starting to pull the other Keychains one by one from my backpack. The one from Zeus' staute, which is just a lightning bolt. I hand it to Terra. Then the one from Lighthouse. It's a book that's just slightly open. I give it to Ven. The next one is the small pillar from the Mausoleum, and I give it to Van. The next is a ship from Rhodes and it's Roxas'. Now let's see that's…only five, but I don't have any others…We went to every Wonder. We sealed all of the Keyholes. I remember getting all of the Keychains! I look over to Sora. "We're missing one." I watch as his eyes widen.

"But, we went to all of them right?"

"Yeah…this was the last one, but look." I show him my backpack.

"Did you put it somewhere else?" I turn to Aqua. I don't think I would have, but maybe…I search through every pocket of the bag, but there's nothing. "What about your pockets?"

"Aqua, these are brand new. The one we're missing would be from the Pyra…"Something is in my pocket, I can feel it when I reach in. I don't remember it being there before. I pull it out…it's the small pyramid from Giza. "But how did that…get there?"

"Doesn't matter. Come on, we're running out of time." Sora sticks his hand out and I place the Keychain there. He sets his down in the last open pedestal. All of them are lit now. There's a huge crackling and rumbling sound before the entire room goes dark.


End file.
